The Exchange Hero
by ProfessorPedant
Summary: An American exchange student joins Class 1-A at the beginning of the first term. But this student has no desire to become a hero, he just wants to live life on his own terms. Experience the Academia from a different perspective. OC-centric look at canon and more.
1. Episode 1

Episode 1

 _"I remember the day I decided I did not want to be a superhero. I was probably five or six. I was working with my Grandmother. She'd come to the Citadel to help me with my piano lessons. At the time I didn't realize that the piano lessons were mostly a way for me to learn to control my strength. My powers began to manifest very early. My family had to teach me to control myself before it would be safe for me to leave the Citadel. At first they had me working, playing, whichever, with blocks and balls. They started out with steel toys so that I was less likely to crush them accidentally. Eventually we moved to wood and hard plastic. That was when Grandma introduced me to the piano. I really had to concentrate on being gentle so I didn't destroy the instrument every time I struck a key."_

 _"I must have wrecked that little kiddie keyboard a million times. But Grandma just kept repairing it. That's her power. And then I'd try again. She'd play for me to show me what she wanted and then talk me through it … 'Gentle now. Just tickle the keys, Otie' … Don't laugh. I was five. Everyone had a silly name at five. Anyway, after watching her, I'd try so hard to tickle the keys. Eventually I learned."_

 _"But that day our lesson was interrupted by an argument coming from the balcony. I guess my Dad and Grandpa had been in a meeting in the conference room. When they came out they were still yelling. There was third person in the argument, a lady who I didn't recognize. I guess she was probably from some charity or something."_

 _"I don't care how many lives it might save, we cannot afford to work for free!" Dad said. I could tell he was really frustrated. He always steps heavier when he is frustrated and I could hear the balcony echo with each footstomp._

 _"We're only talking about one or two days a month," the lady argued. I could tell they had been through this before. "Other hero agencies have agreed. It is a way that people who need help, but can't afford the cost can get it. Think of the children!"_

 _"That's not how superheroes work, lady," grandpa added. He didn't sound as mad as Dad, but he wasn't happy. They must have gone into the elevator because I didn't hear any more._

 _"Superheroes don't save kids?" I asked Grandma when they were out of earshot._

 _"Not anymore I guess, not without getting paid." She sounded sad as she looked in the direction they had disappeared. I saw a tear roll down her cheek._

 _"That's when I decided I didn't want to be a superhero. I wanted to help people. And scientists and engineers help people. They build things that help people. That's why I want to go to Melvin Turnbuckle School for Engineering and Mechanical Professions, not Super High." As I finished my story I watched the members of the Super High admissions committee lined up across the table stare at me in bafflement._

 _"They still made me go."_

"So how did you end up here?" I was jolted out of my reminiscing by the girl's question. I had momentarily forgotten that I was telling my story to a real person. I focused on her, once again taking in her pretty face, long blond hair, golden horns, and wide blue eyes. She was dressed for comfort, much like most of the people on the plane, myself included. New York City to Tokyo was a long flight, though she had boarded at Los Angles.

To be fair, if I am going to describe other people in this tale, I should introduce and describe myself. I am Otis Armstrong. Yes, one of those Armstrongs. The youngest to be precise. But unlike the rest of my family, I don't look like an idealized Greek god. Instead I am short, skinny, and a look like a pathetic wimp, if my older brother is to be believed. My hair is mousy brown and my eyes a dull grey. I am the stereotypical 15-year-old geek. I'd rather read or build robots than exercise, and my body reflects this.

The only things that gives me any measure of self-confidence are the facts that I am smarter than the average bear and I am the strongest person on the planet. OK ... given very particular circumstances, I have the _potential_ to be the strongest person on the planet. Most of the time I am still strong enough to cause my older brother serious frustration and make my father certain I should join the family business.

"I tricked my family. By going on this exchange program, I avoid Super High for one more year. And as I am working towards my license I don't lose anything." I couldn't read the expression on her face. Did she think I was weird for not wanting to go the top hero school in the US? Did she think I was clever for avoiding my family's plan for me? Did she think I talked too much? I couldn't tell.

"Since my Granddad is Japanese, he really wanted me to go back to his home country. I thought it might be cool, and I've never really spent much time away from the ranch so … here I am." She smiled at me.

"That explains the blond having the name Tsunotori," I nodded.

"Yup, I'm _sansei_ but my mom and grand mom are both blonds. I think the fact that the normally recessive traits of blond hair and blue eyes came out in me is part of my Quirk."

"You study genetics?" I asked. She didn't seem the scientific type.

"Not really, but ranch girls know about breeding."

"What does your family breed on your ranch?"

"Some cattle and sheep, but mostly horses. That's part of why they called me Pony in school. Though with my looks and real name, Peony, it was pretty much a given I would end up Pony."

"Peony, like the flower?"

"Yeah! Most people don't get that. My mom and her mom were also named after flowers, so it is sort of a family tradition."

"Cool. I was named after an elevator."

"What!"

"Well," I smiled. "Actually, my great uncle or some such was named Otis and … I don't know … somehow, I ended up with it. I usually tell people I was conceived in an elevator and …"

She started laughing. It was an oddly horsey laugh. She didn't look like a horse in her face, especially with the two horns, but she did have hooves for feet and a short tail. I thought she was kind of cute.

"Oh!" I remembered, "Speaking of names. I need to ask you a favor."

"Hmm?"

"I really don't want people in Japan to know I'm an Armstrong. Even in Asia that's a famous name and I don't want people connecting me to my Dad. So, I made arrangements with the UA administrators to go by my Grandma's maiden name, Hightower. Otis Hightower, pleased to meet you." I offered her my hand. She shook it once.

"Fair enough. I'll keep your secret."

"Thanks." Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

When the plane landed, Pony and I were met by three adults and two teens. The most noticeable of the adults was a middle aged Japanese man with a freakish smile. Upon closer inspection, I saw he had no lips so his teeth were fully exposed. It was a disturbing sight. He looked pretty normal otherwise. The other adults looked normal, a middle-aged woman and a slightly younger man with long hair. Both dressed more formally that I was used to. Each was standing next to one of the two teens. Both were girls, one with long blue hair and one, slightly younger, with short black hair and long dangling earrings. The lipless man held a sign that said, "UA Exchange Program" in English.

"Think they're here for us?" Pony asked nervously.

"Looks like," I replied, equally nervous. I never liked meeting new people and was beginning to doubt my decision to throw myself into a completely new country.

As we stared hesitantly at the group, standing still as the crowd flowed around us, the man with the sign stepped forward and spoke. "Tsunotori-san? Hightower-san?"

"Hai!" we both relied, slipping into Japanese. Pony started to bow and I quickly followed suit.

"Hajimemashite, I am Ectoplasm, one of the teachers at UA High School." He continued in part English, part Japanese.

"Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu!" Pony bowed again. I echoed her.

"Do you both speak Japanese?" he asked in the language. It had been part of the requirements for the exchange program as all classes at UA are taught in Nihongo. I had been studying the language for a few years. Many of my robotics friends were from Japan and I was a fan of manga and anime. I suspected Pony had learned it at home.

We both responded positively and the others made sounds of relief. From then on almost all conversation was in Japanese.

"As planned we have arranged homestays for the two of you. This is Hado-san and her daughter Nejire-chan. Pony-chan, you will stay with them." The three ladies bowed to each other.

"Oti-kun, you will be staying with Jiro-san and his daughter Kyoka-chan." Again, we all bowed. Kyoka-chan was the younger, dark haired girl. Upon closer examination, it turned out the long earrings were actually audio jacks that hung down as part of her ears. I was guessing this was part of her power. We all bowed.

It was a few hours later that we finally arrived at the Jiro home. I was exhausted and had spent most of the drive staring silently out the window. My new host-sister didn't seem to mind as she sat with an earplug plugged into her phone, listening to music. Occasionally our eyes would meet and she would give a small smile. All I noticed before I collapsed in to a deep sleep was that the Jiros lived in a standalone house and that Mrs. Jiro had dangling ear jacks like her daughter. Then … nothing.


	2. Episode 2

Episode 2 –

Mrs. Jiro woke me up around 10am local time. My head felt like it was full of cotton, but a cup of hot tea and some eggs helped me to full awareness. I could hear Mr. Jiro picking out notes on the piano. When Kyoka-chan sat at the table I asked her. "Do you play any instruments?"

"Yeah, we all do. Mom and Dad are both professional musician, though Dad is more of a composer than performer."

"What do you play?"

"Guitar, piano, and I'm learning the bass."

"What sort of music do you prefer to play?"

"Mostly rock, the newer stuff. But not pop, synth, or death metal. The exchange program said you play too. I think that is why my parents wanted to host you."

"I play the piano. My grandmother taught me. I play all sorts of music, though Grandma likes ragtime and honky-tonk the best. Playing Joplin really helps build-up your manual dexterity."

"Janis?"

"Scott." She just nodded.

"Do you have any other talents for performing?" asked Mrs. Jiro. I looked at the table and saw a bowl of hard boiled eggs. Taking three, I began to juggle.

"Cool!" Mrs. Jiro cooed. Kyoka-chan gave a single golf clap. I caught the eggs, pocketed two and began to eat the other. After the meal Kyoka-chan offered to take me for a walk around the neighborhood.

I had been to Japan twice before for robot competitions, but I had not spent much time in what we in the states would call the suburbs. Instead of high rises, there were single family homes and small two- or three-story apartment buildings. The bigger streets were lined with shops and banks and other buildings. I was reminded that cars drove on the wrong side of the road when I looked the wrong way when crossing at an intersection. After an hour or so Kyoka-chan led me to a small park across the street from the local train station. We sat on a bench in the shade.

"That's where we'll catch the train in the morning to get to UA. We'll have to get there before 0700 to make sure we are on time."

"How far is it from the house?"

"About 10-12 minutes. Longer in bad weather."

"Are you looking forward to starting at a new school?" I asked.

"You do know we had to test to get into UA. It was hard. And many applicants didn't make it. It's a great honor to be accepted at UA, and an even greater honor to be in the Hero course."

"I know, but are _you_ looking forward to it?"

She looked at me silently for a moment. "I admit I'm a little nervous. Many of the kids in the practical exam were powerful. Some were even scary. I'm not sure whether I'll really fit in."

"So why are you going?"

"I want to be a hero." She shrugged.

I pulled at my hair with both hands. "Why does everyone want to be a hero?" I asked, frustrated.

"Meh…it's a job? With parents that are musicians, I can't really overestimate the importance of a regular paying gig."

"It's about the money?"

Before Kyoka-chan could answer, a deafening explosion sounded in the distance, rocking the bench and shaking the trees in the park.

"What the frik!" I shouted in English. Kyoka-chan pointed towards the train station. Just behind the station there was a cloud of smoke and debris rising high into the air. A winged figure could be seen flitting in the haze.

"Come on. Let's go." She grabbed my hand and we started running in opposite directions, she towards the commotion and me away from it as fast as my feet could carry us. Without realizing it I was dragging her with me. Sometimes I still forget my own strength. She started poking me with her ear jacks. They were surprisingly strong for such tiny appendages. She got my attention and I stopped. "You're going the wrong way!"

"What?"

"I want to see what's going on over there," she pointed towards the commotion with a jack. "We might get to see some pro hero action!"

"And you might get hurt."

"I'm not a baby. If we're going to be heroes we can't run away." She started towards the station. I could see that the disturbance was moving towards us. And I could see that a lot of other people were running towards the noise.

"Stupid, suicidal, sheep …" I muttered in English while running after my host-sister. I had seen far too many super battles. I had no desire to see another. But I couldn't let Kyoka-chan run into a meat grinder. As I ran, I caught a piece of metal debris as it sailed by. It looked like a bit of train track. I crumpled it into a tight ball and stuffed it into my pocket.

Just as I caught up to Kyoka-chan the front wall of the train station crumbled into the street, causing the gathering crowd to jump backwards. Two large figures tumbled through the broken wall. They seemed to be wrestling.

One was a tall, muscular man with what looked like striped steel bands on his head, waist, and wrists. He was grappling with another tall, muscular man with a metal skull mask, dark tank top, and electricity arcing from his hands. They were followed by two men, one purple-suited with gun barrel fingers and the other a bird hybrid with wings, a beak, and a spear in his hands. These seemed to be aiming at the striped-band guy, but could not attack because he was tangled with the electric death metal guy.

The crowd let out a sound between a gasp and a cheer. I tried to put myself between Kyoka-chan, who had wormed her way to the front of the mob, and the fight but she kept moving to get a better look.

"That's Desutegoro. He's a Pro Hero. No idea who the villains are." Kyoka-chan's voice held more excitement than I had yet heard from her. I guess most hero wannabes are secretly fans. Probably shows they don't really know any heroes.

We watched as the electric skull guy managed to get a good grip on the hero and send a powerful jolt of electricity through the metal band on his head. The hero spasmed and screamed, but managed to knock his attacker away into a parked car. The hood of the car crumpled and the villain lay still.

This opened Desutegoro to the other two villains. The birdman dived at him, spear first, but the hero batted the weapon aside. The gun hand opened fire, but his rounds seemed to do no damage, at least to the hero. People in the crowd started to cry out in pain as ricochets found unintended targets.

"Crapdoodles!" I muttered fiercely. I couldn't let people get hurt, but I wasn't legally allowed to use my powers. Everyone in the crowd seemed to be looking at a young woman that had gotten shot. She was bleeding and wailing in pain.

Taking advantage of the distraction, I flicked my fingers, shooting the metal ball I had created towards the gun-handed villain. It bounced off the wall behind him and crashed into his back. I had tried gauging my strength so that I wouldn't kill or cripple the guy, but he was too dangerous to the bystanders. I had to take him out. It worked and he was going down when the hero turned back to him, swinging a back-fist blow that knocked the twice-hit villain back through the wall.

I guess I really needn't have bothered.

The electric skull guy was up and swung the damaged car's hood at the hero's back, charging it with amps of electricity. The energized attack staggered Desutegoro. It looked like he might have a bit if a weakness to electricity.

At almost the same time, the winged hybrid swooped from the sky, raking the hero with his clawed feet, but to no effect. The walking construction site managed to grab the winged menace and spun him into the live wire. Electricity arced as the two villains were forced into rough contact, leaving them both stunned.

Desutegoro took advantage of the opportunity and shot steel cabling from his wrist bands that wrapped the two into a cocoon.

"Use your electricity now and you'll fry both yourself and your partner," Desutegoro said. I realized that the hero and villains had been talking during the combat, but my brain had been too occupied to translate and treated the Japanese words as mere background noise. I would have to watch that if I ever got into a combat situation with Japanese allies.

The crowd cheered. In minutes, the police had arrived and taken custody of the villains. Ambulances carted the wounded bystanders to the hospital, where I hoped that super healing was available.

"Wow! And you wanted to know why I want to be a hero," Kyoka-chan said, excitement slowly draining from her voice.

"That was something," I said quietly. "I just wish no one had gotten hurt." Then I had a disturbing thought. "Will the trains be able to run tomorrow? If not, how will we get to school?"

We ended up having to go to a different station, which meant we had to leave even earlier in the morning.

Stupid supers…


	3. Episode 3

Episode 3 -

"Welcome to UA High. I am Kocho-sensei, or Mr. Principal," said the three-foot-tall, walking, talking capybara in a blue pin-striped suit. I thought this was likely a harbinger of a very weird first day of school. The principal was pacing slowly on his desk, making him closer to our eye level. Both Pony and I were standing more or less at attention in our new UA uniforms. I had never had to wear what was basically a suit to school before. I thought I looked like a doorman, though Pony was pretty kawaii in her short-skirted version.

"I wanted to talk with you a few moments before you start your classes. This is the first year we have instituted this exchange between UA and Hero High. As you may recall, this is a direct exchange, menacing that each of you is replacing one Japanese student who will take your place at Hero High for the year. Hightower-san, you are swapping with Sato Rikido-kun from Class 1-A. Tsunotori-san, you are swapping with Hado Genki-kun from Class 1-B. you will be part of all class and extracurricular activities. We have also arranged a few special activities just for the two of you and your host families. We hope you have a successful and enjoyable year with us. Ganbate Kudasai!" The principal bowed from his desk and we returned his bow and left his office.

Pony's host-sister was waiting outside to show us to our new classrooms. I was beginning to see the appeal of the whole Japanese schoolgirl thing. The corridors were mostly empty as the final bell was about to ring. Hado-senpai dropped me off first. The classroom was a chaotic mess as I opened the door. Students were all over the place, in pairs and small groups, talking, laughing, and introducing themselves. They ranged from pretty normal looking to non-human to invisible. But that reflected the looks of the population in general, which 80% of humanity having some sort of power. Still I wondered what it would mean in this school.

A pretty girl walked up behind me and started talking with a fellow with green hair in front of me as I tried to enter. "Your punch was amazing," she said while waiving her arm in the air.

"It was thanks to you going to speak with him directly that I, uh …" the blushing boy tried to deflect.

"So? How did you know about that? "

"Because …"

"Excuse me, I need to get in please," I interrupted and tried to squeeze past the boy.

We were all still blocking the doorway when we heard a voice. "Go somewhere else if you want to play at being friends."

We all turned around to see a man in a yellow mummy bag lying on the hallway floor, glaring at us. "This is the hero course," he continued. He unzipped the bag and stood. I couldn't guess how old he was but he had long, lank, black hair and a scruffy beard. He was wearing plain black clothes with some sort of silvery muffler around his neck. "You're wasting time."

The man walked into the class and introduced himself as our homeroom teacher, Aizawa Shota, then told us all to put on our PE uniform and head out to the playing field. Looks like this was not going to be the standard meet and greet.

Once we had changed and gathered on the field I sidled up to Kyoka-chan and asked, "Any idea what this is all about?"

"No, I guess we just wait and see."

"Cause there is nothing I like better than surprises."

Aizawa-sensei started with no preamble, "We are not going to waste time. We will start with a Quirk assessment test. Prove that you belong here."

"But what about …" the pretty girl started.

"One of the great things about UA is that teachers are free to teach however they think best, without interference from anyone." That got the class' attention though we didn't really know what to make of the somewhat ominous statement. He continued on what seemed to be another track, "You've all done physical fitness test in junior high. Tests where you were not allowed to use your quirks. This is going to be different."

"Bakugo, you finished top of the practical exam, neh?" the teacher asked a tall blond kid. I looked at him thinking this was the top dog. I had no desire to stand out so I need to watch how well he did and set my sights much lower. The boy nodded. The teacher handed him a softball. "Then you know what to do with this. But this time use your Quirk to throw as far as possible."

Bakugo took the ball and walked to the circle outlined on the field. I could see his mind working.

"You can do anything you want, as long as you stay in the circle. Give it all you've got."

The boy stretched for a moment then went into his windup. He shouted "Die!" as he threw the ball. At the end of his pitch, his hand exploded, launching the ball like a rocket. It blasted into the sky and quickly flew out of sight.

The teacher tracked it with a handheld device which showed the boy's final distance – 705 meters. A quick calculation converted that to more than 2200 feet. I wondered how the ball survived. The other students started getting excited by the prospect of unleashing their powers on a familiar set of tasks, planning how they could best use their individual abilities.

"This looks like fun!" said a girl with pink hair and skin.

"It looks like fun, hmm?" Aizawa-sensei spoke coldly. The class got quiet. "You have three years to become a hero. You think you have time for fun? Alright, let's make this fun. We have eight scored tests. Whoever comes in last place overall will be judged to have no potential to be a hero and will be expelled from the hero course. That sounds like fun, neh?"

The students freaked.

I think that is when we all realized just how serious this curriculum was meant to be. A real pressure cooker. I wasn't too worried. I didn't want to be a hero so I didn't care about completing the course. But even more I did _not_ want to flunk out and get sent back to Hero High. I could not let that happen.

Aizawa-sensei pulled his hair back and we could see his face clearly for the first time. There was a manic light in his red eyes and a wicked smile on his worn face. "Welcome to UA's hero course!"

Several of the student complained about the unfairness of such a high stakes test on the first day of school. The teacher simply pointed out that life was unfair, and life as a hero significantly more so. Oddly this seemed to strengthen the resolve of the other students. He then outlined the eight tests. Some I was unfamiliar with and in some I knew my powers would give me no advantage. But I knew I could ace the long jump, grip strength, and ball throw tests. Doing well in three out of the eight should ensure my place somewhere safely in the middle of the pack.

It was interesting watching the rest of the class, learning about their powers and their personalities. Each test seemed to allow different people to shine, though some like Yaoyorozu, Todoroki, and Bakugo seemed to do well in most of the tests, while others like Mineta and Midoriya seemed to be struggling throughout.

Iida's motor legs aced the 50-meter dash. I came in last.

Shoji set the bar in the grip strength test at 540 kg or almost 1200 pounds.

"540 kg is pretty good," I said to Kyoka-chan.

"I think Kirishima-kun is actually stronger," Midoriya said as he jotted notes in his book, "but his Quirk is not conducive to concentrating his strength in his hand like this test measures."

"My turn." I thought of my uncle teaching me to juggle eggs as a way of training my grip and toss control. I still broke a lot of eggs, but I knew I could handle this without blowing my secret. I very gently squeezed – 407 kg! The class was impressed except for Bakugo who sneered then blew up the tester, but only after he registered 94kg.

The Standing Long Jump was another crowded field with Bakugo, Ojiro, and Aoyama all giving heroic efforts. I gauged my jump to come in just behind the first-place leaper, Asui. The ball throw was another where I planned to come in second, based on Bakugo's performance. Part of me wanted to beat him because he was coming across as such a jerk, but I did not want to standout. So, I threw for 698 meters. I was happy to see Bakugo's lead falter after Uraraka's infinite throw and Midoriya's self-destructive display. Now there is a kid that needs to get his priorities straight. The other tests, except for the long-distance run, were pretty odd for displaying quirks, but almost every student shined in at least one.

And don't you know it, at the end of the tests after making last place Midoriya sweat, Aizawa-sensei revealed that the expulsion threat was just a bluff to motivate us. Way to teach your students to trust their teacher.

And that was my first day of high school.


	4. Episode 4

Episode 4 –

"So that was … something," Kyoka-chan said as they walked towards the station. There were several UA students, most from different classes, walking along with them.

"Makes one wonder how much we can trust anything Aizawa-sensei says, if he's willing to employ 'rational deceptions' for our own good." I shook my head, "Are we going to have to treat the teachers as deceptive, even potential enemies?"

"Like teens need a reason not to trust adults," Kyoka-chan snarked.

"They're not all like that. The teachers I mean." This came from an older boy in a UA uniform walking next to us. He had dark, messy hair and pointy ears and even slouching he was taller than me. "Aizawa-sensei is well known for being particularly rigorous and somewhat eccentric."

"Wonderful," I muttered.

"Don't get me wrong. He's a good teacher. He'll push you hard, but it does prepare you for your future. He'll only kick you out if he is sure you can't make it" the boy said.

"Even more wonderful," Kyoka-chan echoed.

"Please forgive my intrusion. I'm Amajiki Tamaki, Class 3-A. Nice to meet you." He gave a small head bow.

"Senpai," my host sister returned the bow more deeply. "I'm Jiro Kyoka, Class 1-A and this is Otis Hightower from America. He's also in 1-A"

"Hajimemashita. Dozoyoroshiku." I bowed at the introduction.

"I'd heard we have two Americans in first year. How do you like it so far?"

"I think Japan is very interesting. Even though Tokyo is as big as New York City, they feel very different so far."

"And is UA different from your other school?"

"This is actually my first high school. Back home high school doesn't start until August so I'm getting a head start here."

"Ah, I hope you enjoy your stay. Ganbatte neh." He waved and walked towards a different platform.

"You're from America! Cool." This was from a girl in a UA uniform with long, wavy dark green hair. She was boarding our train along with two other students. "We have an American in our class too."

"Who?" asked a pudgy boy with silver hair.

"The horse girl with the horns I think," replied the other boy. He was non-descript with short brown hair and eyes. He almost looked western.

"You're probably talking about Pony. She's in Class 1-B," I supplied. We all sat together in two rows, the seats facing each other. I sat with my back in the direction of the train travel, not my preference, but it is only polite to give the better seats to the girls. My Grandma raised me to be a gentleman.

"Yes, us too!" The girl almost bounced in her seat. "I'm Tokage Setsuna and that is Tsuburaba Kosei," the brown-haired boy nodded. "and this is Shoda Nirengeki." The shorter boy gave a seated bow. Kyoka-chan made our introductions again.

"We've known each other since primary school," Tsuburaba added. "It's exciting that we got into UA together. We were lucky to end up in the same class."

"Where do you live?" Kyoka-chan asked. "Oti-kun is staying with my family this year. We're in Nakamatsue."

"Really. We're in Higashimatsue!" Tokage squealed. "Almost neighbors."

"I guess we'll be seeing you on the train most days?" I asked, not sure of the local geography.

"Probably," Shoda agreed. "Are you from New York? Do you go to Super High? I understand it is similar to UA, or at least that is the reputation it has here."

"I am supposed to start there in August, but by coming here I get to put it off for a year."

"Why August?" Tokage asked.

"Because the school year in the US runs from August to June, not April to March like it does in n Japan."

"Why do you want to put it off?" Tsuburaba inquired. He was looking at me closely.

"He doesn't want to be a hero." Kyoka-chan's voice held a note of sarcasm I was beginning to realize was her standard communication mode with peers. I think she was still treating me as something between a guest and a young kid that needed minding. Her declaration seemed to shock the others.

"I want to be an engineer. But because of the Quirk control laws in the US I have to get licensed. Most of my Quirk is innate, mutation I guess you'd call it. If I'm not licensed the government would use tech to mute my Quirk, making it ineffective so I can't use it illegally. Given my mutation that would mean having to constantly wear a heavily weighted shackle-suit to mute my throwing and bouncing. As I have no desire to live rest of my life in a portable prison, I had to agree to go to Super High."

"You should try the support course at UA," Shoda said. "They do engineering. I know a girl in that program who can tell you more. That would free up your space in the hero course for someone that actually wants to be a hero." His voice carried a note of censure.

"The program I am here on is a direct exchange. I swapped with a guy who was already enrolled in the UA hero course. He'll come back at the end of the year and keep going for his license at UA. So, no one lost a seat to me."

"I see. Still seems like a waste if you don't want to be a hero," Shoda continued. "Can you study engineering at university once you're licensed?"

"That's my plan. I'm going to build robots that make people's lives easier and safer. I think that will help more people than being a hero." That got a frown from all the UA kids. I realized I wasn't making any friends, so I changed the subject. "What was your fist day like? Ours was really stressful."

That seemed to open the floodgates. Tokage carried most of the conversation, though Tsuburaba contributed occasionally. Kyoka-chan and I shared a bit about the Quirk assessment we had to do, and how weird Aizawa-sensei acted. Shoda had good things to say about their teacher, Kan-sensei. I wondered if Pony wanted to swap classes.

The three Class 1-B students got off the train a stop before ours. When we got off we could see that the damage to the station from the super battle was mostly repaired. I guess Japan had restoration companies like my Grandma's Hightower Restorations. I watched for a moment while a couple of workers in exoskeletons secured a new wall into place. I had not realized that Kyoka-chan had gotten ahead of me. I looked around and did not see her so I started for the exit I thought led to our street.

Of course I took the wrong one. I blame to construction that caused me to detour to a different door. However it happened, I ended up in an alley between the station and another building. There was a small crowd of boys in a different school's uniform. From the custom cut of their jackets they looked like the stereotypical delinquents from anime. They were acting like it too. They were crowded around another group of students in a different uniform.

"We warned you. You can't come around here without payin' for the privilege," snarled the largest of the delinquents. "Since you don't wanna pay in coin, you gotta pay in pain!" They started closing in on the younger kids. Some had obvious powers activated. The kids were huddled against the wall at the back of the alley, with no obvious escape.

The big bully reminded me of my older brother. I had seen him and his high school cronies do similar things to kids in my middle school. He knew enough not to do it when I was around, but I had caught him unawares a time or three. I looked around. Where was a hero, or a cop, when you needed one. I did not want to get caught using my powers without a license and get deported back to my loving family. But I couldn't let the bullies have their way either. I got angry and took a step forward. Before I could do anything a shadowing figure on the roof of the station sent a dozen long, thin spikes down, pinning the delinquents' oversized pants legs to the alley's concrete floor.

"What the ..!"

"Move kid's," came Kyoka-chan's amplified voice from behind me. "Get out of here." The kids scrambled to avoid the pinioned bullies and vacated the premises. My host-sister grabbed my arm and tried to drag me away as well. I looked up, but the attacker was gone. I allowed myself to be moved.

After we were in the park across form the station, a place I recognized from the day before, I pulled Kyoka-chan to a halt. "What the frik was that? Why are we running? I thought you liked watching heroes work?"

"That wasn't a hero. There's a vigilante called Flechette that sometimes works this district. I think that was her. She can be dangerous. The police have been trying to stop her for months."

"A vigilante? You mean an unlicensed hero?"

"No. She's not a hero. She breaks the law each time she fights and she's not above using excessive force against criminals. Some say she might even be a hero killer. There is someone killing heroes in Tokyo, and it might be her." Kyoka-chan was noticeably upset, her voice quaking and her ear plugs zooming in erratic circles like they were looking for a threat. "We were lucky to get away."

In the distance, I could hear a siren. It was different from the ones I hear at home, but I assumed it was the police. We did not wait around to see. Kyoka-chan was quiet the rest of the way home.


	5. Episode 5

Episode 5 –

The next day of school started surprisingly normally. After a forgettable homeroom period, we had English class. The teacher, Present Mic, was loud, annoying, and decided to use me as a human audio file. He repeatedly asked me to read the textbook examples aloud in my 'Proper American Accent'. Honestly, I was beginning to think the school had brought me over just to save money on ESL recordings. Lunch was lunch. Why they needed a pro hero as chef I had no idea. They say no one had ever seen his face. It made me wonder if he might be a robot, and I got excited about lunch again. Then came the afternoon session with our introduction to Hero Basic Training, taught by All Might himself.

All Might was Japan's "Number One Hero", a title my father held in the US. I had even heard All Might described in the American news once as Japan's equivalent of Captain Armstrong, a comparison that likely made neither man happy. I was expecting the Symbol of Peace to share a lot of personality traits with dear old Dad, and his over-the-top entrance into the classroom fed those fears. The rest of the class ate it up like Pooh eats honey from a beehive, sickly sweet and more than a little painful.

"We'll get right to it … combat training!" When I heard those words, I slumped in my seat. From what I had seen yesterday, there were some pretty powerful teens in this class. Throwing them in a room and telling them to beat something or someone up was a recipe for disaster.

"And to go with these are … your costumes!" Shelves containing our costumes slid out of the classroom wall. These outfits had been crafted by the school's tech department, based on our powers and on designs we had submitted with our applications.

When I had first been asked for a costume design, well before I came to Japan, I'd hatched a plot to keep my identity secret and to completely separate my new identity from my family. To do that I had to hide my powers through careful misdirection. Rather than presenting myself as the super strong Kid Armstrong, the name my father has planned for me, I decided to limit the level of strength I'd demonstrate. Instead, I would distract people by showcasing a "useless" talent that my mother's brother had introduced me to – juggling.

When I was young and still trying to learn to control my strength, my Uncle Mattie had started me juggling tennis balls. Of course, I crushed them or threw them so hard they flattened against the roof. So, we moved to steel balls and an open field. Pretty soon I wasn't mangling the metal each time I caught the balls. And I got to the point where I wasn't launching them into orbit with each toss. After a few months of practice, slowly moving from steel, to hard rubber, to baseballs, finally we returned to tennis balls. Then he started showing me how to juggle with two people.

Luckily, he had the power to absorb and redirect kinetic energy because I must have beaned him a thousand times. But he just absorbed the impacts; making himself stronger, faster, and tougher. He kept working with me until we could keep a cascade of balls going for several minutes. Finally, he had me practice using a wall as the second person, tossing the balls to bounce off the wall and catching them. Once I could do that he showed me how to adjust the angle of the bounce to hit different targets. Basically, he was training me to use our shared energy absorption/redirection power.

I designed my costume to capitalize on that aspect of my powers, as well as my interest in robotics. It was a modernized jester's motley of dark greens, reds, and greys with a fool's cap, a domino mask, and a belt and bandoliers with two dozen balls embedded. The balls were made of either steel or a special synthetic rubber that I could juggle and throw.

The steel balls were for non-living targets, while the rubber ones were designed to stun or knock out people rather than harming them. The three bells on my fool's cap were actually small, detachable robotic drones that I had designed and built. They could move on their own, either rolling on the ground or flying in the air, and were remote controlled by electronics in my gloves. They also transmitted sound and images to a receiver in my hood. I called it the robo-juggler outfit, but knew well enough not to use that particular moniker out loud.

I hit the locker room with the other boys and donned the costume. It was tighter than I was comfortable with. But that was the nature of spandex, or whatever they used for tights these days. Looking around I did not think mine was the silliest outfit in the class. I thought that was a tossup between Mineta and Bakugo. I almost took offence when All Might pronounced, "They say the clothes make the man…" upon our arrival at Ground Beta.

"For this class you will be split into villains and heroes and fight 2-on-2 indoor battles." The teacher explained.

"Without basic training?" Asui inquired.

"This is a real battle to understand those basics!"

As I said, lots of ways this could go wrong and the 300lb smile didn't seem to be aware of any of them.

We were split into pairs and then assigned random opponents. I was paired with Koda Koji, a big fellow with a head like a natural rock outcropping. I nodded at him and he silently returned the nod. I don't think I'd heard him say anything in the last two days. We were assigned the villain role. Our mission was to protect the notional bomb from the heroes and/or to defeat them in combat. Our opponents were Ashida and Aoyama. I had seen both perform creditably in yesterday's tests. But I wasn't worried, mostly because I had no intention of trying to win.

As we watched the first combat I was amazed at the destruction unleashed by Bakugo and Midoriya. Bakugo seemed like a completely mindless loose cannon, but All Might's comments seemed to imply there was more to him than that. Midoriya seemed the opposite. At first, I thought he was going the non-powered, skilled martial artist route. He showed smarts and fighting ability. But when he finally unleashed his power punch to blow out the top five floors of the building, I realized he was in a different class power-wise from the rest of the students. I am not sure I could have done that. He had something more than just super strength going for him. He was able to transmit the force of this blow through the air and the structure of the building without ever touching it. But the damage he did to himself was ridiculous. If he breaks a bone every time he uses his power, he's a fool to be wasting it on classroom exercises. I was interested in the little medical robots that carried his unconscious form away. I wonder how I could get a better look at them.

During the debrief it was a pleasure to watch Yaoyorozu dissect the two teams' performance. That girl has it all, brains, beauty, a versatile power, and a very interesting dress sense. Of course, that is all the more reason she could never notice a fool of a geek. I think she managed to surprise the big blond cheese too. The next few matches were also telling. Todoroki displayed a power level that rivaled Midoriya's, without the self-destructive side effects. Tokoyami's dark force telekinesis and Yaoyorozu's tactical thinking were also noteworthy.

Finally, it was my turn, or rather our turn. As we wandered up to the bomb location I asked Koda, "What's your quirk? I can bounce and throw things. I can also send out little spy drones. How do you think we should do this?"

"I can talk with animals," he answered quietly. Not what I was expecting. I did wonder what the big teeth on his costume were for.

"Are there any animals in the building? Maybe some rats or bugs to spy for us?" He just shook his head.

"Ok." I plucked one of the drones from my fool's cap. "I did want to see if these would work." As the drone powered up, the reticule in my mask turned on and I saw the feed from the small camera. I tossed the little robot through the door and it started rolling along the floor, almost unnoticeable. I steered it down two flights of stairs. I found our opponents in the middle of the second-floor hallway arguing over Ashida burning holes in Aoyama's sparkling cape. At that point, I wished I'd built a bomb, or at least a gas capsule, into the drone.

"They're coming, sort of," I told my partner. He shrugged and went over to the window. I assumed he was looking for some animals.

I continued to watch the heroes through my drone. As they came up the stairs I realized that while my little ball-bot could roll downstairs, it couldn't roll _up_ them. My aerial drones could easily fly up the stairs, but not these. I started thinking of ways I could get the ground drones to climb stairs. While I was lost in thoughts of tacky surfaces or internal bouncing mechanisms, Ashida burst through the door.

The pink hero surfed in my direction, capture band in hand. But I leapt away, bouncing off a support pillar and landing in the far corner. Aoyama herded Koda towards a different corner with his belly blaster. This let Ashida quickly capture the bomb. Once it was deemed secured the cry of "Heroes win!" came over the loudspeaker. I was not bothered, and I was surprised to read the disappointment on Koda's craggy features.

Our debriefing was unpleasant. All Might pointed out that even in situations that are not ideal for a given set of powers, heroes still need to find ways to save the day. Iida pointed out that we did not attempt any real teamwork. Yaoyorozu pointed out that while we gained intelligence on our enemies' location and noticed their distraction, we did nothing to take advantage of it. Bakugo called us useless for not even trying to fight back. Only Uraraka had anything positive to say. She pointed out that we had done the least damage to the building and she thought our costumes were kawaii.

Not a great day. And Kyoka -chan was giving me weird looks the whole way home.


	6. Episode 6

That night after dinner, I was checking out some robot forums online when Kyoka-chan knocked on my door. She looked more unhappy than usual.

"Excuse me, do you have a minute? I have a question."

"Sure, please sit down." She took a seat on the bed. "What's up?"

"Were you _trying_ today?"

"What?"

"During the practice combat. Did you _try_ to win?"

"Umm…Not really. It just didn't seem important to me."

"That's what I thought." She got up and started out the door. I watched her, confused. Just before left she turned back and asked, "Did you know that Koda-kun is the first person from his town to attend UA _ever_?" She walked away before I could answer.

What did that have to do with the price of coffee beans in Guatemala? I knew nothing about Koda, other than his power.

Shrugging, I turned back to my tablet. They were streaming a robotics competition and my friends' team was in the running. It was so close, but they just got beat. Fifteen minutes later I was condoling them over their loss. After I closed the window I tried to watch some anime, but Kyoka-chan's questions kept bugging me.

With a curse, I got up and went to the family room. My classmate was playing her guitar with her ear jack plugged in. I waited for a bit, but she never acknowledged me. After a while I sat at the piano and started playing. Mrs. Jiro came in from the kitchen and listened. Shortly Mr. Jiro joined us and started accompanying me on his guitar. Kyoka-chan glared at us, took her instrument, and went into her bedroom. I didn't see her for the rest of the night.

The next morning Kyoka-chan talked as much to me as she did most mornings, which is to say not a lot. She was not unfriendly, just quiet. I was getting the impression she was more than a bit emo. On the train, the kids from Class1-B was pretty talkative. They were scheduled for their practice combat that afternoon. When we got to the school, there was a crowd outside the main gate. When we got closer they turned out to be reporters looking for a scoop on All Might. That guy needed more publicity like the Sahara needed more sand. We made our way through with a simple "No Comment."

"Otis!" I turned and saw Pony calling me. I stopped to talk with her and the others went into the building.

"Hey, what's up?" it felt a little odd to be speaking English.

"My host mom wanted me to invite you and your host family to a _matsuri_ this weekend. We live in one of the temple districts and there are a lot of festivals and such."

"That sounds pretty cool. I'll ask if they want to go. Give me your number incase Mrs. Jiro wants to ask for details. How are you liking your new place?"

"It's great. They have this old traditional house. It's just like my grandfather talks about or like you see in the old movies. Way different from living on the ranch. How about you?"

"Not bad. The family are all musicians so I get to keep up with my piano practice." Just then the first bell sounded. Even though a lot of students were delayed by the press at the gate, I didn't want to be the one late for class.

"Gotta run!" Pony said. Then, with a wave, she started trotting away. I quickly changed my shoes and followed her.

Homeroom was once again chaotic that day. But this time it was with a pretty mundane activity – class elections. While we did not have these in the US, I had seen them in anime a dozen times. In Class 1-A everyone seems to want to be the leader. Even Kyoka-chan had her hand up, which surprised me. I had no idea why these people wanted to take on extra work and responsibility. It wasn't like many, or any, of them were planning on going to university. So having a school government position on their academic resume didn't matter. Needless to say, I keep my hand down and my mouth shut during the whole election process.

I was tempted to vote for Yaoyorozu. She was smart and pretty and I really wanted her to smile, even if it wasn't at me specifically. But host family loyalty and all that won out. As Kyoka-chan wanted the position, I cast my vote for her.

In the end, most everyone voted for themselves. Midoriya had three votes and Yaoyorozu and Kyoka-chan each had two so Aizawa-sensei declared Midoriya the class rep with the two girls as deputies. Woohoo. At least my host sister seemed pleased. And the girl I did _not_ have a crush on gave a bit of a smile to the class as well. Everyone was satisfied, except for Bakugo, much to the surprise of no one, who freaked loudly about "Deku" winning. Drama queen. The rest of the morning was school. Nothing more really need be said, save that I was really not prepared for ancient Japanese.

I decided to grab a sandwich from the cafe and take my lunch in the woods behind the school. People had been looking at me like I had something smelly on my shoe all morning and I didn't feel like dealing with it in a crowded cafeteria. There were some comfortable benches in the shade and the weather was particularly nice. Sitting down I pondered the vagaries of the high school social scene, Japanese style. I knew that as a gaijin I was always going to be somewhat on the outside of the tight knit society. But I didn't know if that was what I was experiencing. It was only a few days into the year. Maybe my novelty had worn off and this was how it was going to be for the rest of my time in Japan. But I didn't think that was the case. I thought I had done something specific to offend everyone, and I had no idea what.

I noticed Koda seated under a tree, munching on an onigiri, surrounded by birds and squirrels. As I ate, I watched him talking with the various critters. I couldn't hear what he said at that distance and wondered if he was speaking Japanese or some other language. I thought about what Kyoka-chan had said about him being the first from his town to get into UA. Why would this guy want to be a hero? He seemed too gentle to be in it for the violence, like my brother; too shy to be in it for the publicity, like my sister. Maybe he was in it for the money, like my father. Maybe his town needed an influx of cash and he was the lucky one chosen to make some dough. I just didn't get it. Before my mental questions could expand to encompass the motivations of all my classmates, Koda and I were disturbed by an alarm going off.

"There is a Level 3 security breach. All students evacuate outdoors." The voice on the loudspeaker was calm, but the students I could see in the building through the windows were just the opposite. I saw a man with light blue hair entering the building through a side door. I didn't recognize him, but figured he had to be a staff member. I just didn't know them all by sight. Koda and I stood, but I had no idea where to go. Leave it to our lackadaisical maniac of a homeroom teacher to forget the little detail of how to deal with a school emergency.

"Were are we supposed to go?" I asked the squirrel whisperer. He shrugged then pointed toward the sports fields. I shrugged and we started walking in that direction. It made as much sense as anywhere else. When we got there a number of other students were gathering. They seemed to be segregating into groups. I assumed these were classes and started looking for ours. I saw Yaoyorozu and Todoroki and headed nervously towards them. They were not the least intimidating people in the class.

"Any idea what is happening?" I inquired, bravely I thought, when we got to the pair.

"I was in the class when the alarm went off. I did not see anything, but exited the building as directed." Todoroki said emotionlessly. I wondered about this guy. Did his powers make him such a cold fish, or was it the other way around?

"I saw nothing either," agreed Yao … I decided to just call her Momo-chan. She was too amazing to have an awkward sounding name. She was looking towards the main gate where you could hear the distant sounds of many raised voices.

"You think it might be the press at the gate?" I asked.

"Maybe." She agreed. "What's that?" The sound of sirens could be heard growing over the noise of the crowd. "The police are coming."

"Look!" Asui, who had joined the group, was pointing towards the back doors of the building. A large crowd of students was pouring out into the fields. They were talking about Iida and a stampede in the lunchroom. For a school for heroes they don't seem to have mastered crisis management. Eventually we heard that the press, or someone, had somehow destroyed the barrier at the gate and surged on to the school grounds.

After lunch Midoriya abdicated his position as class rep to Iida. So much for democracy.

Over the next two days I realized that I really was being shunned by my classmates. It even spread to the other classes. People all over the school were staring at me and whispering in the hallways. They went out of their way to avoid interacting with me. In class, no one wanted to partner with me, so the teachers let me work alone. It was particularly noticeable in hero basic training. Even Kyoka-chan spoke to me only when courtesy required it _and_ her parents were around.

Sunday came and the Jiros declined the invitation to attend the festival with the Hados, though they encouraged me to go. So I went. Pony and her host sister Nee-chan met me at the station.

"Hey!" Pony cried and hugged me. "I'm so happy you could come."

"Me too!" Nee-chan squealed and hugged me when Pony let go. Wow… full body hug from a gorgeous senior girl. That may have finally kick started puberty for me. "We are going to have such fun." She as speaking in English with a very cute, slightly British, accent. "We thought we should meet you here as the neighborhood is a little confusing to navigate. This is one of the oldest districts in Tokyo, with loads of old temples and shrine and ryokans and …old stuff."

"The streets are really twisty and all the houses are so traditional." Pony added. She linked her arm in mine and we started into the maze. I felt a strange weight lift from my chest as we strolled.

"You know, this is the first time anyone has talked to me in days." I said.

"Yeah, you're on everybody's shit list." Pony frowned and poked me in the ribs. "But I figured you needed a break and some human interaction before going back into quarantine."

"Thanks…" I said uncertainly.

"So what did you do to gain the wrath of the first years?" Nee-chan queried.

"I have no frikking clue!"

"Really?" Pony sounded surprised.

"Really."

"They say that you sabotaged your partner's performance in the 2-on-2 combat test. That you're untrustworthy, not a team player."

"Oh yeah!" the blue-haired senior chimed in. "I did hear about a foreigner firstie that was out to bring down the whole school. I thought it was you," she pointed to Pony.

"Jiminy H. Cricket on a pogo stick!" I expostulated. "Are you serious?"

Both girls nodded their heads, their big blue eyes very serious. "I did not sabotage anyone, and I'm certainly not out to destroy the school. We lost a match. It was no big deal. Half the class lost their matches. That's the nature of the frikking exercise."

"Whoa, Nelly," Pony placated. "Calm down. I had the same exercise last week and I'm sure Nee-chan had it in her first year. We know how it goes. Tell us what you did and maybe we can help."

"Fine. I was paired up with this quiet guy that has some sort of animal control Quirk. But there were no animals in the building, so he was useless. I didn't really care about the whole exercise, so I used it as an opportunity to test out some of my new tech. I discovered several shortcomings in my ground-based drone design, but in general it seemed to work as planned. I just need to upgrade the specs to meet new requirements…" I saw those were not the details they were looking for. "Anyway… That's it. We didn't stop them. They got the bomb and we lost. No deliberate sabotage. No plans for world domination. It was just a stupid exercise."

The two girls looked at me then at each other.

"He screwed up, didn't he?" Pony put forward

"Big time." Nee-chan agreed.

"How?" I demanded "I didn't do anything."

"Exactly!" Pony agreed.

"Worse, it sounds like you didn't even _try_ to do anything." The senior's tone was somber. "I don't know how things are in the US, but in Japan the group is more important than the individual. By ignoring the exercise objective and not preserving you let down the group - your team, your class, and the whole school. Did you want to win?"

"I don't even want to be in the frikking school. I. Don't. Want. To. Be. A. Hero."

"But we all do." Pony almost pleaded. "Every student in the hero course, probably in the whole school, is trying their damnedest to become a hero. While you, who I _know_ could do great at this, can't even be bothered to try. Do you know how that makes everyone else feel?"

"That's why people are avoiding you." Nee-chan stated. "They see you are not firm in your resolve to become a hero, therefore you are wasting their time. Possibly even endangering their chances of succeeding, as you did for your partner in that exercise."

"But…" I tried to protest. She just continued over me.

"Even worse, by sitting in the hero course you are taking the opportunity away from someone who really does want to become a hero. The same opportunity we all struggled so hard to get. A place at UA is probably the thing these students value most. And you are spitting on it. Yeah, I can see why you are unpopular."

I was gutted. Was I really screwing up that badly? Was I wasting everybody's time? I knew I wasn't taking Sado's opportunity away. But the others probably didn't see it that way. How could the other students really value becoming a hero? Heroes were just mercenaries. They didn't care about helping people. They just wanted to get rich and famous, or to beat people up without getting in trouble. How could everyone want to be a hero?

"Well, Crackdoodles!" I cursed. Both girls cracked up.

"Crackdoodles?" Pony whickered (a cross between a whinny and a snicker. You have to hear it to understand.)

"Hey! My grandma can't abide cursing. You have no idea what she does if she ever catches one of us saying one of the forbidden words. And even though I'm in Japan, she might hear me and I'd be in so much trouble. No way can I risk it." That just made them laugh harder. I pouted.

"Anyway!" Nee-chan spun around and clapped her hands. She had a huge grin. "Let's go to the festival. They have jasmine tea. I love jasmine tea!"

So, we went to the festival and had fun. But in the back of my mind I kept asking myself how the whole world could be so wrong.


	7. Episode 7

After I got off the train on the way back to the Jiro house from the _matsuri_ , I decided to go for a stroll. I had enjoyed the company of Pony and the Hados (which, coincidentally, is also the name of my second favorite new-wave klezmer band) and wasn't yet ready to reenter the arctic realms of my host sister's disapprobation. I chose a direction more or less at random when I exited the station.

Tokyo at night is a different place than when the sun is shining. But even in the darkest hours it feels safer than New York's mean streets do at high noon. So I wasn't worried. Even if I came across something bad, I was confident in my own abilities. Sometimes I wondered if I share by brother's love of fighting. The few times I had used my powers it had felt good. Natural. But it also made me nervous. I picked up a couple of stones and started a one handed roll in as I walked. There were few people on the street. I was thinking about something Nee-chan had said just before I got on the train that evening.

"If you really don't want to be a hero, don't."

It sounded so simple when the blue-haired pixie had laid it out. "No one can force you to be a hero. Do not waste time in a hero course because you need a license to use your Quirk. In Japan, if you don't have a license you just get on with what you do want to do, without using your Quirk. It is different in the US. But you can decide to deal with the muting and move on with your life. Or find a different way. It is up to you."

What she said made sense. Why was I putting myself through this? Even at home, the choice was really mine. Dad could convince the Board to admit me to Hero High. They could even force me to attend. But I could use passive resistance. If I refused to participate in the hero classes, they would eventually have to kick me out of the program. Hero High could no more afford to waste a space on an unwilling students that UA could. Not even as a favor for Captain Armstrong.

It would probably take less than a year for me to get kicked out of Hero High. Less time than this exchange program lasts. If I just go home now I could be in Turnbuckle High before the end of my first year. Did I want to do that?

That's where my thought train derailed for a while. I couldn't force an answer. I stopped by a convenience store and picked up an ice cream cone. As I exited, I noticed a few drones flying in a well-lit park across the street. I wandered over to a bench and sat. Three kids were flying their drones. As I ate my cone I watched two of the boys team up on the third. They were forcing his drone into the trees where it tangled and got stuck. They laughed at him as he tried unsuccessfully to fly his vehicle free.

I pulled out two or my ro-balls (I was still working on the right name for hem). I carried several of them with me to tinker on in my spare time. Using my phone, I took a picture of the tangled drone and sent the robots a search and rescue program, with the drone as the target. This was similar to the sorts of challenges used in some of the robot games.

I activated the ro-balls and watched the flying bot make a magnetic connection to the ground bot, lifting it into the air. Watching through the camera feed, I could see the robots search for the drone. Upon finding it the aerial bot looked for a place to set the ground bot down. It dropped it on a branch.

All three kids were watching my robots at work, fascinated. The ground bot rolled up the branch to the tangled drone. I had added a layer of extra tacky exterior to it allowing it more traction. The roller bot rammed the drone, trying to knock it free. At the same time, its airborne partner lowered its magnet on a thin cable, trying to attach it to the rescue target. Working together, the two bots managed to free the drone in under three minutes.

"Robots save the day!" The boys cheered, even the ones that had forced the drone into the tree.

It felt good to help people. Which inevitably brought my thoughts back to my earlier dilemma. I collected my toys and headed back to the Jiros' place. The parents greeted me and asked about my day, but Kyoka-chan was still avoiding me. I put my ro-balls on their charger before I went to bed.

I had a restless night. I know I had troubled dreams, but the only one that I could recall in the morning was one with me as a young boy, sitting in a strange place with a blanket over my shoulders. Two rescue workers were speaking over my head. _One said to other, "The only reason no one died is because the new robot prototypes were able to dig people out of the wreckage. They really saved the day."_

I had no idea where that had come from. But it seemed to foreshadow what came next.

"Disasters, shipwrecks, and everything in between. It's rescue training!" Aizawa -sensei almost seemed awake when he said this.

It was several days after the festival and I was now only being ignored by the rest of the class. This was a step up from being actively shunned. I assumed that Pony, or more likely Nee-chan, had spread the word that I was not as bad as rumor was making me out to be. Now there was more a flavor of pity than disgust to the blank stares in the hallways and classrooms. I still didn't fully understand what I had done that was so bad, but I was determined to try to fix it.

I still did not care about becoming a hero, but I decided that I neither wanted to be a pariah for a year nor to be sent home if the administration decided I was more trouble than I was worth. I wanted to help people and getting a hero license kept my options for doing so in the future open. After I finished the hero program I didn't _have_ to work as a pro hero. I could still build robots. But if I found myself in a situation where I wanted, or needed, to use my powers, I could do so without risking arrest.

I had also made a commitment to the exchange program and to Sado. If I chose to leave or got sent home, he might have to leave Hero High as well. And that wouldn't be fair to him or the efforts of the program organizers. Grandma, and Dad if I admitted it, had taught me the importance of keeping my word and meeting my commitments. I had committed to the program so I needed to do what it took to see it through.

As such I need to fix my relationship with the class. A big part of being an exchange student is offering the other students the opportunity to get to know and interact with someone from another culture and gain the benefit of exposure to different perspective. That couldn't happen if no one talked to me.

" _This_ is the duty of a hero!" Kirishima said, bringing me back to the present. I agreed with him to a certain extent. Rescue work was the most philanthropic sort of work that heroes did. There was no bounty on a tornado. I almost had respect for heroes that acted as first responders during disasters. Not as much as non-powered people taking the same risks with far fewer protections. But at least rescue heroes directly helped people.

I sat quietly on the bus to the simulation center and listened as the others argued whether Midoriya's powers were related to All Might's. I could certainly see the similarity. But as Kirishima pointed out, All Might did not seem to share Midoriya's self-destructive side effects. I thought it would be ironic if this one class held the scions of two of the top heroes in the world. When we arrived at the USJ I was impressed by the resources put into the center. I was also curious about the technology behind it.

After Thirteen gave his introduction to the USJ I quietly asked, "Aizawa-sensei, did Thirteen-sensei design the systems that maintain the different environmental areas? Can I talk with him about the engineering of it?"

"Maybe later. I have to talk to him now." Apparently, All Might was late for class. After discussing it with his space-suited colleague, our teacher declared, "It can't be helped. Shall we begin?"

"Do not forget that there are many Quirks that can easily kill with one wrong step. You do not have powers to harm others. You have powers to help others." Thirteen-sensei lectured. I found myself agreeing with the odd-looking space man. I just wish more heroes lived by his creed.

"All right then, first …" Aizawa-sensei ordered, only to be interrupted by the lights in the entire dome starting to flicker and fail. In the middle of the dome, near the central fountain, a swirling black cloud began to grow, opening a portal. Out of this aperture stepped person after person. There were dozens of them.

"Thirteen, protect the students!"

"Is this like the entrance exam where the lesson's already started?" Kirishima queried. Midoriya started towards the stairs. I don't know if he was moving to get a better look or to try to do something about the disturbance.

"Don't move!" I had never heard that snap in Aizawa-sensei's voice. As he put on his visor, I realized this might be serious. "Those are villains."

Yup, serious.

"The trespassers the other day …" I looked more closely and saw someone that might have been the person I had noticed going in the school the other day. I couldn't be certain, but it could have been.

Crackdoodles! I should have said something. If that person used the distraction of the alarm to get the schedule for the classes, they knew when we'd be here with only a few teachers. If they arranged to distract All Might so he was not here, they'd have us at their mercy.

"… They might be fools, but they're not dumb." Tokodori's words cut through my recriminations. "This surprise attack was carefully planned with some sort of goal in mind."

Double Crackdoodles! They must be after me. Somehow someone found out that Captain Armstrong's son was at UA. Since no one really knows about my power levels they must think I'll be an easy mark. They think they'll be able to use me and the others as hostages against Dad. I've got to save the others! Just as I was about to leap into action, Aizawa-sensei threw himself at the enemy.

I must admit Eraser Head was a joy to watch. I called him that as he was acting in his hero role not his teacher role. I respected him more because I knew his fighting prowess was earned through his own hard work, as his only power was to block other people's powers. He was taking on a score or more of villains and making it look easy. I really admired his finesse.

"Hightower!" Midoriya nudged me, getting my attention.

"There's no time for analysis!" Iida called. "Hurry up and take shelter!" That's when I saw the rest of the class was running towards the exit. The three of us joined them, but our escape was foiled by another dark aperture opening between us and the door.

The black smoke coalesced in toe vaguely humanoid shape with two glowing eyes. A distorted voice emanated from the murky mass. "Hajimemashite. We are the League of Villains."

 _That's a name that sounds no more original or less pretentious in Japanese than it would in English_ , I thought to myself.

"We have invited ourselves into the home of the heroes, UA High School, in order to have All Might, the Symbol of Peace, take his last breath …."

Wait, they're not after me? They're after that walking sack of testosterone and hair gel? I let out a heavy sigh. Then Bakugo and Kirishima decided to kick off the fight by jumping the talking cloud. The hot head's explosion obscured the action with a bank of grey smoke, which was somehow distinct from the villain's dark purple miasma.

"Did you consider that you'd be beaten by us before you did it?" the red-headed menace asked proudly.

"Oh dear, that's dangerous." The villain's misty form parted to reveal a gleaming metal tube containing the center of the mist. "Even if you are students, you are excellent golden eggs."

"No! Move away, you two!" Thirteen ordered. He had one gauntleted finger open and pointed at the bad guy. The two idiots were in the way.

"My job is to scatter you all," Tenebrous tendrils shot form the center of the darkness and surrounded the class, drawing us into the inky mist, "…and torture you to death!"

I felt myself getting sucked through something and falling. I landed on the roof of a building and bounced away. Which was good because I was immediately followed by Bakugo, who proceeded to blast a hole in the roof, collapsing it beneath him. I smiled as I watched him slide in to the darkness. Idiot. I was less amused when the roof continued to collapse, dropping me into the floor below as well.

"Arrrgh!" the hot head articulated as he extracted himself from the pile of debris. "What the hell! I'll kill him!"

"Where are we?" I looked out of one of the broken windows. I saw a dome full of half-destroyed buildings. We were near the top of an 8-10 story structure that appeared to be in slightly better shape than the one leaning against it. "I think this is the Collapse Zone sensei had mentioned."

A half dozen or more thugs dropped from the roof and attacked us. Before I could even react, Bakugo had two of them down with a well-placed explosion that knocked them in to the wall. A helmeted attacked me with a sword, but I caught the blade. I yanked it from his hand and tossed it out the broken window, while throwing the former swordsman helmet first into a charging minotaur. I snatched three of the stunner balls from my bandoleer and started juggling.

"Are you kidding me? Are you here to fight or to put on a show?" Bakugo said as he dodged a crowbar wielded by a bearded goon and grabbed the oversized gun out of an orange-skinned woman's hand. He exploded the gun, while I bounced two balls off the heads of the two attackers. I caught both projectiles on the rebound and working them back into the cascade.

"Can't I do both?" I quipped.

"Baka! Is this all of them? They're so weak?"

"Don't complain. It gives us time to go help the others. Hopefully they're still in the USJ too. I'm not sure they're all as handy in a fight as you. Besides, if you and Kirishima hadn't blocked the teacher's play none of this might have happened."

"If you want to go after the others, feel free to go by yourself, clown-boy. I'm going to find that damn warp gate and kill him."

"Really, that's the way you want to play this, all me-and-my-personal-vengeance? What a maroon."

"Shut up! That gate's the enemies' way in and out. I'm going to cut off their getaway route for when the time comes. It's not like we don't have a way to fight the fog. Now stop your chit-chatting! You've let your guard down …" He reached out and snagged a camouflaged something by the top of the head. A quick explosion later and he had a small, unconscious lizard-like goon in hand.

I could not believe how fast his reactions were. Between Bakugo's fighting skill and his tactical thinking, I was having to change my views of this guy. And I was not best pleased with that.

"Anyway," he continued, "if these small fry are the ones assigned to us, pretty much everyone will be fine, right?"

"Yeah, that makes sense. Lead on, McDuff."


	8. Episode 8

Bakugo and I closed in on the area where we could see the warp guy's dark fog. He was with the blue-haired man, who I suspected was the one that broke into the school, and a black giant with an exposed brain. The giant was wrestling with All Might, and seemed to have the hero at a disadvantage. They were in some weird pose, with the giant in two places going through one of those dark portals. As we got closer we could hear them yelling.

"… Restraining you was Nomu's job. And then, when your body is halfway in, to close the gate and tear you apart is _my_ job." Grandpa says the villains always take time to gloat. I saw that, in this case at least, he was right. While the villains were concentrating on All Might's struggles, I spotted Todoroki and Midoriya racing to the fight. The green-haired bone breaker made what I always thought of as a rookie mistake, he screamed "ALL MIGHT!" as he charged. That finally caught the bad guys' attention.

Warp guy appeared in between the charging teen and the crippled teacher. "How foolish."

But the villain never saw Bakugo coming. The hothead blasted the fog man's metal collar, forcing him out of Midoriya's path and slamming him into the ground, just before the portal could send our fellow student someplace fatally unpleasant. "You're in the way, Deku!"

Todoroki sent a sheet of ice that encased the giant's right side, through the portal, and up the arm holding All Might. "The Symbol of Peace cannot be killed by the likes of you."

I bounced at the blue-haired guy, flinging two stun balls to bracket him on the right and left. He dodged backwards. I landed in front of him. He reached out, placing his bare hand flat on my chest, and waited with anticipation.

Nothing happened. The chest of my costume disintegrated and his hand was touching my bare skin. But nothing happened. All I felt was a tingle. His eyes behind his hand-mask … and that whole hand-costume thing was way creepier in person than it sounds … popped in shock. While he was boggling, I grabbed his arm and tossed him gently at the frozen Nomu, just as All Might levered himself free. The freak was fast and agile. He managed to spin in the air, slapping All Might on the leg as they tumbled past each other, and stuck a three-point landing on the other side of the fight.

"Argh!" All Might roared as his leg collapsed, dropping him to his knee. With a grimace, the hero managed to stand.

"Nomu," the freak called. The giant pulled itself out of the portal and tried to stand. Its ice encrusted right arm and leg crumbled off. But as quickly as they fell, new ones started to grow in their place. I was pelting the creature with hard-thrown steel balls, but they seemed to have no effect, flattening on his body. Crackdoodles.

"Get back everyone!" All Might ordered.

The freak started monologuing, so I started throwing balls at him, bouncing them from different angles, trying to at least distract him. Todoroki and Midoriya were spectating, and Bakugo was gloating at the fog man.

"Nomu," the blue-haired man ordered as he easily dodged or caught my projectiles. Those he caught disintegrated. "Get our gate back."

Double Crackdoodles! Nomu rushed towards Bakugo almost faster than I could see. I had a momentary flashback of another giant fist heading for a young woman. Then I snapped back. All Might was moving to interpose himself, but he was slowed by his wounded leg. I was much closer. I had to act. Moving faster than I thought possible, I just barely managed to get myself in front of Nomu's blow. It launched me over the wall and through the Squall Zone dome.

I went in one side of the reinforced concrete structure and out the other, passing through a number of buildings along the way. I don't think I have ever been hit that hard before. Not even by my older brother, Strong Boy, who didn't hold much back when we had our brotherly donnybrooks.

I could feel my body absorbing the energy of both the blow and the collisions with the dome and the buildings inside. Each impact fed my strength, hardened my body, and made me that much angrier. The anger wasn't tied to my powers, I just hated getting hit like that. When I slammed into the outer wall of the USJ, I redirected most of the energy of the impacts to my legs, helping me bounce back to the combat zone.

As I approached from above, I found All Might and Nomu locked in a fist fight like I had never seen before. The ground beneath them was crumbling and I couldn't make out their arms, they were moving so fast. My costume was shredded. My bandoleers and fool's cap were gone. I had no other options but to go hand-to-hand.

I used what little maneuvering power I had to aim for the best landing. This wasn't true flight, but I could manipulate my kinetic energy enough to change my course slightly in midair. I landed directly behind Nomu and, bracing myself, punched him as hard as I could.

The blow actually landed. Nomu managed to shift just enough so it was not a direct hit. I tried to knock the giant straight into All Might, knowing the hero was fast enough to take advantage of any opening this might create. Instead my blow sent them both rolling into the forest.

I leapt to follow, to get back into the fray. But they were moving too fast. Up, down, all around. I couldn't get to them. In seconds, All Might had managed to set the giant up for a haymaker like I have never seen.

I always thought I was stronger than All Might, especially after absorbing the energy of Nomu's blow. But that man has something extra. The energy of his final smash could _not_ have been strength alone. I don't know what it was, but I doubted I could withstand it. Not that I ever wanted to try.

The Symbol of Peace launched Nomu like a rocket into orbit. The shockwave rattled the whole dome. As I bounced back to the scene of the finale, I saw All Might posing in a cloud of dust, bantering with the hand-masked man. It took me a little bit to get my brain to start translating again before I could understand their byplay.

"Hey, what's going on? He's not weaker at all." The freak was freaking out. He was clawing at his own neck like he was digging for gold. I realized he wasn't really responding to All Might. He was talking to himself. "Did that guy lie to me?!"

"What's wrong?" our teacher challenged. "You're not coming? You said you'd clear this or something, right? Come and get me if you can." The shear presence of the man was almost unbelievable. I could feel my hair standing on end. And I've seen my dad talk the Demolition Squad down from a rampage in progress. I'm used to intimidating speeches.

"As I expected, it looks like there is no need for us to fight," Todoroki stated. "Midoriya, Hightower! We should get out of here now! It will be worse for All Might if we get taken hostage."

The teenaged master of self-destruction ignored the suggestion. He just stood there staring at the big guy's back through the dust. I kept my eyes on the two remaining villains. I didn't think the fight was over quite yet, and I remembered the warp gate claiming it was his job to kill All Might.

"Well? What's wrong?" the blond powerhouse took a step towards the villains. Taunting them.

Scratch, scratch, scratch … "If only I had Nomu …"

"Shigaraki Tomura!" The portal guy called out. "Please calm yourself …" What he said after that was too quiet for me to hear, but it seemed to be calming the mad man.

I thought the good guys waiting while the bad guys came up with a new strategy, and their goon squad behind us woke up, seemed like a real bad idea. But this was the teacher's call. Bakugo and Todoroki started towards the goons, trying to keep them off All Might's back. Mad Man charged towards All Might who stood like he was paralyzed. It struck me that our savior might be more damaged than he was letting on. He might be bluffing. I had to step in. At the same time Midoriya decided to launch himself at the warp gate.

I made a grab for the disintegrating menace as he passed me. The freak spun on his heel reaching towards who knows what through a suddenly open portal. I managed to grab one of the red cable on his back and jerked him towards me. That pulled him out of the portal just as a shot rang out from somewhere. Midoriya slammed forcefully into the fog man, smashing him into the mad man. This impact caused the red cable to tear loose from Shigaraki's back, leaving me holding plastic as the two bad guys were knocked back a dozen yards. I don't know how injured they were. Midoriya had delivered a mighty blow. But before anyone could react, they managed to warp away leaving us with nothing.

I looked around to see where the next danger was coming from. Midoriya was down with his legs lying at unnatural angles. He'd made a big hit, but it cost him. Bakugo and Todoroki were looking at the main entrance where someone was starting to clean up the goons. I started to turn to see how All Might was, when wall of cement appeared in front of me, blocking my view. I tensed for another fight.

"We want to make sure that all students are safe, so please gather at the gate." It was Cementoss, one of the teachers. "We will deal with the injured here."

I hesitated for a moment. This sounded fishy, but I am used to supers keeping secrets. I had a few of my own. So, I saluted and turned to inform the other guys. "Hey! He said to gather at the gate." I pointed to the top of the stairs so they knew which gate I meant.

Ninety minutes later the whole class, except for Captain Breaks-a-lot, were gathered outside the USJ and were being checked over by medics. I had a huge bruise covering most of my torso from where Nomu's massive fist had slammed into me. The medics wrapped my ribs, just in case. I kept poking at the bruise, exploring the residual pain. Being injured was another new experience for me. It was a shock to discover I was not as invulnerable as I thought. My wounds were the remnant of a single blow. All Might had withstood hundreds of such blows in the short battle.

All the students were discussing where they had been during the fights and how they had survived. Kyoka-chan and Momo-chan had been together, along with Kaminari. I was relieved to see the girls looked none the worse for the experience. I thought it funny that Aoyama wouldn't tell anyone where he had been, even funnier that no one was asking. The students were more concerned about the condition of our teachers. We were told that the injured were all under treatment and were expected to recover.

The police watched as the remaining teachers loaded us back on the bus. It was a quiet ride, and when we got to the school, the parents were there to meet us and take us home. We were being treated like kids, even though we had just fought for our lives and the lives of our classmates and teachers. And somehow that was all right.


	9. Episode 9

UA was closed for the next couple of days while they double checked the campus and beefed up the security. The battle at USJ made national news. Violent conflicts involving almost a hundred villains and more than a dozen pro heroes were fairly rare, not to mention involvement of the twenty students of Class 1-A to add extra excitement and pathos. Mostly the news was interviews with police officers and graphical recreations of the event based on the police reports. The only person from UA talking was Present Mic, the school's designated spokesperson. Mostly he kept to the company line of how UA students and faculty had faced the crisis with courage and resolve. He also stressed that the faculty had not hesitated to place themselves between their students and danger. And that UA personnel has accounted for more than 70 arrests.

The students had all received word from Kocho-sensei that we were to avoid speaking to the press, but some accounts of some of what happened had gotten out from "unidentified sources in the class". My money was on Mineta and Aoyama as the leaks, with longer odds on Kaminari, Ashida, and Sero. I was a bit surprised that no one who had been involved in the main fight at the end had spoken out. I figured Bakugo for the self-promoting type. I expected to see him on camera touting how he had torn through the goons and taken down Kurogiri, as the media identified the portal creator. I didn't think either Midoriya or Todoroki were the publicity-seeking kind, and I knew I wasn't saying anything to anyone.

I realized that I had made some major mistakes if I really wanted to keep a low profile and avoid identification as an Armstrong. My initial fight with the goons was ok. My actions all fit the new hero persona of a bouncing juggler that I was trying to create. But surviving the hit from Nomu, and worse coming back afterwards and starting in with my fists painted the picture of a powerful brick, like All Might or Captain Armstrong. This was the exact image I was trying to avoid. Even worse was the fact that my cap and mask were gone by that time. While puny, unlike the rest of the men in my family, I do share the distinctive Armstrong hair and nose. That was the reason my costume had a mask. I did not want anyone seeing an Armstrong look-alike doing hero things, not even my classmates.

Luckily, for whatever reason, stories of my part in the fight had not made the news. And only the three boys and All Might had been close enough to see what I had done. Oh yeah, and the three leaders of the League of Villains. Nomu was in custody, and was reported to be completely non-communicative. The other two seemed to be the brains of the outfit, and they had gotten away, after seeing me in action. They could pretty easily figure my secret out. I had a feeling that might actually be worse for me in the long run.

Every time I thought about the fight … which was only three of four times, per hour, for days, including in my sleep … I kept coming back to the fact that I had been almost completely ineffective. Not that I wanted to be a hero, but I always figured I could easily play in the big leagues if I decided to try. Now I wasn't so certain.

They were all so fast, both the bad guys and the pro heroes. Not the goons. They were easy to take down, though I heard that some of the other students had real difficulties. But Shigaraki, Kurogiri, and most especially Nomu were almost untouchable. The only way any of us students got hits on them was when they were either surprised or distracted. I first tagged Shigaraki when he was in shock from his power not working on me. The second time I got him, he was trying to hit Midoriya through a portal. I wasn't even on his radar. Even Bakugo, who is much faster than me, only got Kurogiri when he was concentrating on killing All Might. And Nomu … I just couldn't stop thinking about how hard he hit me. It kept popping into my head and I would flinch. Or I would find my hand unconsciously massaging my ribs, which would remind me again how I got hurt.

Apparently, this behavior did not go unnoticed. On the third day, Mrs. Jiro sat Kyoka-chan and me down in the living room and let us know it was time to talk.

"You can't keep it bottled in like this. Neither of you are sleeping well. You're not eating. And I haven't heard either of you practicing your music since … that day. We need to talk."

"Not going to be much of a talk if you can't even call it what it was … the attack. Or the kidnapping. Or the day we almost died." Kyoka-chan's normally subdued tone was almost shrill by the end.

"Can't you tell me what happened?" Mrs. Jiro pleaded. "If not me, I have a friend who specializes in helping teens work through their problems."

"I don't think talking will help." I said.

"You can't understand," my host sister added. "No one that wasn't there can understand."

"The school said that people involved in battle for the first time often experience recurring trauma – depression, mood swings, nightmares, even flashbacks. They said the best way to resolve the issue is to talk about it. They're planning on bring in counselors for your class next week. But I don't want to wait. I hate seeing you like this. I have to help."

 _You don't have to be a hero to help,_ I could hear in Grandma's voice. She had said it so many times when I complained about the mercenary behavior of heroes. Maybe she was right. Maybe Mrs. Jiro was right. Not doing anything sure wasn't making it better.

"You know, it's funny. At first, when we were thrown into the Collapse Zone, it was exciting. A little scary, but it was an adventure." Both ladies were looking at me silently, listening. "When the first bad guys came at us and Bakugo took them down _so_ easily, I thought maybe this isn't so bad. Then I smashed a couple and suddenly it was like a game. Who could beat the most baddies? It was … fun."

I stopped and looked at Kyoka-chan. She looked back for a moment then, slowly nodded. "Yeah. We were in the Mountain Zone, surrounded by all these villains. At first, we were all scared. Then Momo-chan reaches into her body and pulls out these weapons. She hands me a sword and suddenly I feel like it's a fantasy game. Momo-chan scolded us because Kaminari and I were joking. It was so easy. I sound blasted this huge guy with a giant mace and he went down. Bam! I felt like a hero. Together we took them all down. It was great."

"Yeah. It was."

We both went silent for a while. Kyoka-chan had a small smile playing about her lips. Then it turned into a quivering frown.

"Then thing got bad." I continued. I was picturing the first we had seen of Nomu and the Madman. "When we got to the main area, the big fight was already underway. Midoriya was already injured, probably self-inflicted. But All Might was there, bleeding and almost beaten. The three leaders of the League of Villains were about to kill him."

"Kill him …" Kyoka-chan muttered, not looking at me. "That's what he said. He was going to kill Kaminari unless we let him kill us." Suddenly she locked gazes with me. "It was that skull-masked electric guy we saw fighting Desutegoro. How was he not in jail?"

"I don't know. What happened?"

"He had Kaminari in one hand. He was threatening to fry him if we didn't give up without a fight. I tried to trick him, but he saw it. He said little kids shouldn't try to go against real villains. He said we had to choose! Kaminari or me! How can you choose?!"

"No one should have to make that choice. Least of all children." Mrs. Jiro was trying to help, but I don't think she got it. What she said was right, but it didn't help.

"But I _did_ have to make that choice. I don't even like that stupid sparkplug, but I was going to let that villain kill me to save him. I was going to die!"

"I had to make the same choice, Bakugo or me. But mine came at me so fast. I don't think I consciously decided. I just moved." I was rubbing my chest. "Bam!"

"But you survived."

"So did you. I think we both have to remember that. We both survived. It was a team effort. No one died. The good guys won. And we all survived."

"I know that up here," she tapped her forehead. "But it's not enough."

"No, it's not. But for now, it's all we have."

We sat silently for a while after that, Mrs. Jiro looking worriedly between us. Eventually she walked away. But I noticed she had her phone out. I figured we would be seeing one of those counselors sooner rather than later.

The next day we were taken to see a super shrink named Shuzenji Shinichi. He had an office not far from the school. We spent an hour talking about the general events of the day. He was good about helping us realize and admit our feelings as we talked. Then he wanted to talk to each of us individually.

"Ladies first," I insisted. Kyoka-chan growled but agreed. While she was talking to the doc, I closed my eyes. It started as a means to avoid talking to Mrs. Jiro. But I began seeing the fight with Nomu on the inside of my eyelids. I saw his giant black fist swinging at Bakugo. I watched it happening again and again. And as it repeated in my mind, the fist started flickering, being replaced with the image of another fist. A giant brown stone fist that was swinging at a young woman's back. The two images were interposed in my mind, though I had no idea what the second image was from. The woman looked familiar, but I couldn't place her.

Mrs. Jiro's gentle hand on my shoulder brought me out of my reverie. "It's your turn," she said, motioning towards the counselor's door with an ear jack.

I went in. Dr. Shuzenji was seated in a comfortable chair with a tablet in his hand. He gestured for me to sit in a similar chair across a low wooden table. I complied.

"You and Jiro-chan have had similar experiences, so I met with you together at first. But each of you went through different events, and made different decisions. You have different feelings, so I need to talk with you separately as well."

I nodded in understanding.

"Let's walk through your experiences after you came upon All Might and the main villains."

"Ok." I started detailing how Bakugo and I had found the situation as we arrived. I described Midoriya and Bakugo's separate attacks on Kurogiri and my attack on Shigaraki. I explained how our initial success seemed to build upon our prior successes with the rank and file League members. How confident we felt. How alive.

"Then what happened?"

"It was my fault that All Might got injured. I threw the freak towards him and he was able to tag All Might because of it."

"Did you intend to hurt your teacher?"

"No, I was trying to help him get free."

"What happened after that?"

"We couldn't seem to do anything against the bad guys. They were too fast or too tough. Then Nomu attacked Bakugo …"

"And …"

"And I had to save her. All Might wasn't going to make it. I just moved. Got between that giant fist and Bakugo. Bam!"

"Just a moment Otis," He pressed some buttons on his tablet and showed me the video of what I had just said. _"I had to save her…"_ He stopped the recording. "Why did you say, 'save her'? Who were you saving?"

I closed my eyes for a moment and the image of the young woman and the giant brown stone fist flashed in front of me again. "I don't know. I keep seeing this image."

I described it to him. He pressed but I couldn't force any more of it out of my uncooperative imagination or memory. "All I can say is the she feels … familiar I guess."

"Alright. That is enough for now. You're doing great. I'd like you to think about this. And about any other images that may come up. Maybe even in dreams. I'd like you to keep a log of anything that comes up or that you remember that we haven't talked about yet. We'll get back to it next time."

Great! A mystery. Just what I need.


	10. Episode 10

I had several interesting conversations in the first days back at school. On the train, the students from Class 1-B wanted to hear all about the USJ fight. Both Kyoka-chan and I fobbed them off with something about Kocho-sensei not wanting us to talk about it. They weren't happy, but they didn't press. On the way in to school I saw Bakugo standing alone.

"I'll see you in class," I told my host sister as I turned towards the boy. She saw where I was looking and nodded.

"Bakugo-san, do you have a minute?"

"Get away from me, clown-boy. I've got nothing to say to you."

"I just wanted to tell you that you did well in the fight. I don't think we could have survived without you."

"SHUT UP! You think you're better than me! I didn't need you to save me! I'll show you, chijin! I'M NUMBER ONE!" He snarled at me, small explosions popping in his curled hands.

Everyone was looking at us. I held my hands up and backed away. He turned and stalked into the school. What a nutjob …

I saw that Kyoka-chan had not gone far. She was standing with Kaminari, which was a change from before. I didn't think they got along. "I thought something like that might happen," she confided.

"Like what?" I asked, confused.

"You said you saved him at one point in the fight."

"Whoa, really?" Kaminari added.

"I took a hit meant for him," I clarified. "He might have been able to dodge it without me. I have no idea if he could have taken the blow. He's pretty powerful. I don't know everything he can do."

"Yeah, right. Given the way he reacts to Midoriya-kun, I think I've figured out a bit of his whacked-out worldview." Kyoka-chan explained. "Because you took a hit meant for him, he thinks that shows you thought he couldn't take it. That you think you're better than him. Thus this morning's entertainment."

"Whacked out is right," Kaminari agreed. "But I wouldn't let him hear you say it," He added with a cheeky grin.

I just groaned. Several times over the next few days Bakugo referred to me as "chijin". Eventually I asked my host sister the significance of the word, as I was unfamiliar and it was not in my dictionary.

"It is a play on words, a literary reference, and an insult all in one. He is actually cleverer than I gave him credit for." She explained. "At its most basic 'chijin' is an old way to say 'fool'. It's also similar sounding to gaijin or 'foreigner'. And it's a reference to an old novel called 'Chijin no Ai – Heart of the Fool'. It is a comedic tale about the Japanese fascination with the West. So calling you chijin is calling you a fool, which may also be a reference to your costume, a foreigner, and insulting your exchange program in a subtle way as well. As I say - clever."

"Jiminy H. Cricket …" I hoped it didn't stick.

On the way to class I got called aside by an older boy. "You're wanted in the teacher's lounge."

"What for?"

"I don't know. I just deliver the messages."

"Right. Thanks." When I finally found the lounge, it was getting toward time for homeroom class. Inside the lounge were All Might, in his yellow suit, and Kocho-sensei.

"Please come in Oti-kun," invited the diminutive administrator. He gestured to the couch. "Would you care for some tea?"

"Thank you, please," I replied as I sat. All Might poured for us all.

"I had a few questions for you, about the battle, if you don't mind," All Might said politely. Even when he was trying to be quiet, his voice filled the tiny room.

"Sir?"

"Did I see the villain leader, Shigaraki Tomura, touch your chest during the fight?"

"Yes, just after Bakugo and I arrived."

"And what was the effect of his touch on you?"

"It disintegrated my costume."

"Anything else? What about your skin? Did it affect your skin?"

"No, sir. Or at least not much. After the fight was over I noticed part of a hand-shaped mark, but it was mostly covered by the bruise from Nomu's punch." Crackdoodles, I shouldn't have mentioned Nomu's punch.

"OK. Next question. Are you related to Captain Armstrong?" I stared at him. He looked calm, with a slight smile on his face. Not the big grin I would have expected from this kind of 'gotcha'. I turned to the Principal. He said nothing and I could not make out anything from his furry, little, tea-sipping face. I did wonder fleetingly how he got the scar over his right eye.

"Uhhh …" When it came down to it, I just wasn't willing to lie about this to a teacher, especially as he already suspected. " … yeah. He's my dad…"

"That might explain it," All Might said to Kocho-sensei. "Based on an examination of Aizawa-sensei's wound, Shigaraki Tomura's Quirk is Decay. This may be closely enough related to Captain Armstrong's Destruction Quirk, that Young Hightower here may have inherited a full or partial immunity."

"That seems to fit all the evidence. Wonderful deduction, All Might!" Kocho-sensei did a little happy dance in his chair. Then he turned to me. "Thank you, Oti-kun. You should probably rush off now. You don't want to be late for this morning's class.

I got, while the getting was good. At least it was only the one teacher. I thought my secret identity was probably still safe.

I had arranged to meet up with some students from Class 1-B for lunch. Shoda was going to introduce me to his friend from the support course so I could find out more about the technology resources at UA. Pony and Tokage were waiting when I got to the table. They asked about Bakugo's explosion. I was amazed at the gossip grapevine at the school.

"It wasn't anything important. He's just got a bit of a temper. I always wondered about how people's Quirk reflects their personality. With him, I think it is a great fit."

Shoda arrived with a girl with pink hair and yellow eyes. It looked like she had crosshairs on her pupils. She also had a tool belt around her waist. I stood to meet her.

"Hatsume Mei, this is Hightower Otis from Class 1-A." We both bowed then sat. "Mei is in the support course. Otis is interested in robotics."

"Are you the American?" the girl asked in English.

"One of them," I replied. "This is Pony Tsonotori. She's also from the US. She's in Class 1-B."

"I've seen some wonderful toys out of the support companies in the States. Gek-kun says you like robots. Do you build them?"

"And fight them," I agreed. "I was on a team in the Gorgon League back home, but I had to drop out when I came here. I hope to get into the Dragon League when I go back."

"Sugoi neh! The Dragon League, at our age. I am impressed."

"Well, I work with some older friends. And they have great sponsor so …" I don't think either of us noticed when the other students left the table.

At the end of the day, Todoroki and Midoriya cornered me as class was ending. They wanted to talk.

"I'll let Mom know you'll be home late," was all Kyoka-chan said as she left me to their tender mercies.

We walked to a café near the station. We stayed silent until we were seated and had ordered. "What's up?" I finally asked.

"Are you an Armstrong?" Todoroki inquired, with no preamble.

"You can't just ask like that!" Midoriya started to freak. "You have to work up to it. Give him some hints. Tease it out of him. Maybe he doesn't want us to know. There has to be a reason he's at UA under an alias. Maybe he's in hiding from his family's enemies. Maybe he's on a mission for the American government. Or the Japanese government. We can't just reveal his secret so suddenly…"

"Are you an Armstrong?" Todoroki asked again. "Given who my father is, and his obsession with becoming the Number One Hero, I am very familiar with the top heroes from around the world. Captain Armstrong is the number one hero in the US. I am also familiar with the Armstrong Family – Lady Armstrong, Strong Boy, and Princess. I know there's another son, who the press says is too young to be an active hero or even a sidekick. His name is Otis Armstrong. You look like the pictures I was able to find of him."

"And the Quirk you demonstrated against Nomu and Shigaraki Tomura appears very similar to the Quirks displayed by the other Armstrongs. I've seen several videos of their exploits." Midoriya cut in and started to lecture. He had a notebook to which he was referring. "Though there are differences between the various Quirks of the Family, they all share similar characteristics. As do you. Therefore …"

"You must be Otis Armstrong," Todoroki concluded levelly.

I sighed and held my head in both hands, pulling my hair with my fingers. _I_ _really_ _suck at this secret identity stuff,_ I decided. Looking up, I made sure no one was listening to us. "Yes …" Midoriya started to interrupt, but I cut him off. "But it's a secret, and I would like to keep it that way. So please keep it to yourselves. Don't write it down." I pointed to Midoriya's ever present notebook. "And don't tell anyone else."

Both boys looked at each other, then nodded their agreement to me.

"Ok … I'm assuming you have questions. I have questions for you too. Shall we discuss?" They both agreed.

"I'll start. Why do you want to be a hero?"

And so began our peculiar little coffee klatch.

A few days later, during our hero basic training class All Might separated us into pairs for sparring. This was the beginning of a unit of hand-to-hand combat.

"Every hero, even those that strive to avoid conflict must be prepared to defend themselves and others. Sometimes that means fighting _mano a mano_. So, for the next several classes we will train without the use of powers." The teacher's opening speech left many in class either excited or uncertain. I was among the later.

"Sensei, what if our physical powers are innate?" asked Shoji. He held out his tentacles in silent elaboration. Though less obviously so, I was in the same situation, as were several others. Most supers had some level of innate physical enhancements; of strength, speed, agility, and durability. Bakugo and Aizawa- sensei's incredible reaction speeds, as seen in the USJ battle, were examples of obvious superhuman abilities not specifically related to their main powers. I had no idea how the big blonde cheese expected us to turn those off.

"Today we'll have a number of qualifying matches to track you into different ability levels for later training. This will account for your innate abilities." The smile he gave us was in no way reassuring. I hoped Recovery Girl was ready for business.

We were in a large gym. There were ten twelve-foot diameter rings on the floor arranged in a large circle. We counted off and were randomly assigned sparring partners. Each pair went to a ring. All Might ordered that the even numbered person of each pair would rotate left around the circle when he blew his whistle twice.

"Strikes, kicks, throws, and holds are all allowed. Pinning someone so they cannot get up, rendering them unconscious, or removing them from the ring all count as victories. You can also tap out at any time if you feel it necessary. On my whistle … _TWEET_!"

I was paired initially with Kirishima. I knew he was strong, but I was stronger. I reached out to pull him into a hold. But I only managed to grab air. He easily sidestepped my grasping hand and delivered a solid punch to my jaw. He wasn't using his Hardening, but was still stronger than a normal human. Even so the punch had no effect but to make me stronger. I tried a spinning leg sweep like I had seen in the movies. When I came back around, leg still extended, he was standing just outside my range, laughing. He easily snagged my ankle and tossed me out of the small ring. He was still laughing. The double whistle sounded.

I walked back into the ring as Momo-chan joined me. The tall beauty stepped into a fighting stance and the single whistle signal sounded. Before I could even move, she'd landed three punches and a kick. None of them had any effect. I unconsciously absorbed the light knockback from the blows. She looked at me surprised. I slowly reached out to grasp her arm. She smiled, and as my hand almost touched her, she grabbed it, twisted and threw me over her hip. Somehow, she followed me down and I was pinned with my arm levered behind me and her knee on my back. She wasn't strong enough to resist me when I pulled out of the hold. But she was fast enough to avoid my counter grapple. The double whistle sounded.

Next was Shoji. He was huge this close, reminding me a little of Nomu. I decided he could take one of my blows so I struck as fast as I could. Somehow, he spun around my blow, grabbed my wrist, and once again I was airborne. I landed well outside the ring, almost hitting Momo-chan in the next circle. I turned and the giant bowed to me. The double whistle sounded.

I stomped back into the ring to find myself facing Kyoka-chan. I sighed. I really didn't like fighting girls. As the single whistle sounded I gave her a half-hearted shove, which she caught, twisted, pulled, and pinched. Suddenly I was on my knees in agony as her thumb and both ear jacks dug into various points on my hand and arm. I reacted instinctively, pulling my hand out of the proverbial fire. This jerked her off her feet and sent her sailing across the gym. All Might moved faster than the eye could see across the length of the room and caught her before she smashed into the wall. He blew a continuous tweet on his whistle, causing everyone to stop. "Take five. Water is in the corner." He pointed. Then he led my host-sister over to me. I rushed to meet them, apologizing all the way.

"I'm ok. But you gotta realize the difference between a girl and a rubber ball. You don't bounce _us_ off the walls."

"I'm really sorry. Jiminy, I don't know what happened. I never meant to do that."

"Instinctive reaction to pain overload." All Might almost sounded like he knew what he was talking about. He turned to Kyoka-chan, "You used both the shikotsu and hashizawa pressure points?"

"I figured using my ear jacks that way was not against the rules."

"No, you did well. But that level of pain can cause a reflex action that you may not be able to handle if your target is significantly stronger than you. Just be aware in the future." He gently patted her back and sent us both to get drinks.

The rest of the matches went pretty much the same. For whatever reason I couldn't seem to land a blow or get a grip on anyone. Their strikes didn't hurt me, but some of the students were able to lock me up in holds or throw me around the room. It was embarrassing. The teacher asked me to stay after class.

"What do you think of your performance this afternoon, Oti-kun?"

"I stunk on ice. I don't understand what happened."

"Have you ever had any martial arts training? Perhaps boxing or wrestling?"

"No. I've always avoided that kind of stuff. Outside the family, I didn't want to hurt anyone. And inside the family, it has all just been basic roughhousing, which I've always hated."

"Most of the other students have had formal training in one or more martial arts in preparation for their attendance in the hero program. They're more familiar with this sort of exercise. That's one of your problems. But you have a more fundamental issue we'll have to work to overcome."

"What?"

"You're very slow." He almost looked embarrassed to tell me. "Whether it's because you are unconsciously holding back because you equate speed with strength and you don't want to hurt your opponents, or because you have avoided activities which would exercise your body and improve your physical abilities, you move at barely half the speed of most of your classmates. We're going to have to think of special exercises to work on building that speed."

"But what about juggling? That takes a lot of hand-eye coordination and reaction speed."

"That's what gives me hope that you can improve." He put both hands on my shoulders and looked very grave.

"You must understand the seriousness of this. If we cannot find ways to make you faster, we may have to remove you from the hero course. As you are now, despite your great strength, you'll be a danger to yourself and others should you become involved in the wrong situations." He squeezed my shoulder firmly and left me standing alone in the empty gym.


	11. Episode 11

"Good morning," muttered Aizawa-sensei. We had to guess at the identity of the speaker. His face was covered in bandages, as were both his arms. He looked like one of the walking dead.

"Teacher! You're back too soon!" Almost the whole class shouted in unison. The individual questions and comment started while the teacher limped painfully to the lectern. The gist was the students thought he was crazy to come back while still so obviously injured.

"My well-being doesn't matter. More importantly, the fight is not yet over." Well that certainly got a reaction. People were panicking, looking for villains. I had taken to constantly carrying a rubber stun ball as a fidget and I readied to throw at the first sign of danger.

"The UA Sports Festival is drawing near." He continued. The release of tension was palpable.

"That's a super normal school event!"

Turns out it wasn't. It was explained that as Japan no longer competed in the Olympics, the UA Sports Festival had grown to be the largest sporting event of the year. Hundreds of thousands of spectators would crowd into the stadium, with millions of others nation-wide watching it live. It was too important to let mere security concerns cause it to be canceled. As it was still a school event, I figured the media rights and other sales were a huge portion of the school's annual income. Their budget couldn't afford the loss cancelling it would bring. I just hoped this mercenary attitude did not cost lives.

"Of course, all the top heroes will be watching," Momo-chan pointed out. "For scouting purposes!" Apparently, this was one of the big ways students showcased their talents for prospective employers. So, it was not only a blood sport, it was a meat market as well. I was really beginning to look forward to it.

The excitement lasted all day. I overheard Midoriya and Iida asking Uraraka why she wanted to be a hero after she had gotten uncharacteristically fired up about the festival. Not wanting to eavesdrop I approached the trio.

"I'm curious about that too."

"… For money …" she finally admitted. "Sorry it is such an unwholesome reason. It's embarrassing."

"How is wanting to have a good livelihood not admirable?" Iida demanded. I knew he was came from a family hero business. It made sense that he would be ok with a financial motivation.

"But it is unexpected." Midoriya looked at me. We had talked about my theory that most pro heroes were in it for the money. He disagreed, but his friends' admissions bothered him. Uraraka continued to spin her tale of a hardworking family and how she wanted to lift their financial burdens, even though the parents wanted her to not worry about the and do what was best for her. It was a tale of family sacrifice that reminded me of "The Gift of the Magi" - heartwarming, but ultimately futile.

At the end of the day our classroom door was blocked by a crowd of unknown students. I thought I recognized a few from the lunch room and hallways, but they were not in either class of the hero course.

"What business do you have with Class A?" demanded our fearless leader – Iida, the Class Rep.

"We can't get out!" whined Mineta. Even out of costume the kid was a bit of a baby. Perverted, but a baby.

"Scouting the enemy, small fry," Bakugo answered in a surprisingly reasonable tone. "We're the ones that made it out of the villain attack. They probably want to check us out before the sports festival." Half the class looked to Midoriya, who had known the blond hot head the longest, to explain his unusual calm.

"That's Kacchan in neutral…"

Before Midoriya could finish his explanation, Bakugo reverted to his usual charming self. By the end of the conversation he had managed to not only alienate the general studies and business students, but tarred us all with the same broad brush.

Something one of the general studies students said caught my particular attention. "Depending on the results of the sports festival, the administration will consider our transfer into the hero course. And it seems they may also transfer people out."

Well isn't that special. Another situation where I didn't want to do well enough to attract attention, certainly not in front of millions of viewers, but I had to do well enough not to get booted from the program and sent home. Joy.

I wondered if I could be transferred to the support tech program and still stay at UA? That would be the best of both worlds, but that might screw it up for Sato when he returns at the end of the year. Still worth checking out the possibilities.

For the next two weeks all of the students, from all of the classes, were spending every spare moment preparing for the Festival of Doom.

On the second day, I tracked down Pony's host sister, Nee-chan. She was flying timed laps above the running track. I waited until she landed for a break. "Hey, do you have a moment?"

"Oti-kun! How's it going?" She replied in English and gave me a hug. I enjoyed every second of it while trying not to be that creepy guy. I think she mostly spoke to me because I offered her an opportunity to practice her English on another native speaker.

"I wanted to check something I heard with someone that has been here a while. I figured you were my best bet for finding someone in the know." I had a tendency to use more slang and idioms when speaking to her, just to help her practice.

"I will give it my best shot."

"Is it true that if hero course students do particularly poorly in the festival competitions that they could be booted from the hero course?"

"Yes."

"Could they be transferred to the support course, or is it straight to the general studies course?"

"Usually they are … booted? … out of UA completely. If not, then it's general studies for them. If you don't want to get sent back to the States in disgrace, you'll need to put in at least some effort at the Festival. Whatever you do, don't screw up your classmates' chances if there is a group event. This is serious for them, possibly even life-changing. They don't need you to drag them down."

"Crackdoodles …"

Yes. She laughed. I thanked her and went back to my plotting. I wondered if I could get out of the competition completely. So, I went to talk with Kocho-sensei. Normally I would have gone to my homeroom teacher, but Aizawa-sensei did not know my real situation. And my grandma had taught me to always go to the person that can say yes. In this case that was the rodent/bear/dog at the top!

"No," said the rodent/bear/dog at the top. "This is exactly the sort of extracurricular activity the exchange organizers had in mind as essential for the students to savor the full essence of the UA experience."

Great. So now what? Despite my dismal failure hiding my true identity at the USJ battle, I was determined to keep my secret during the sports festival. I really did not want to see how Otis Armstrong would be treated in Japan, a country that might actually be more hero-crazy than the US.

I studied up on past festivals to see the sorts of competitions that were common. The pattern seemed to be three to five events, some solo, some team events. Each event eliminated a percentage of the competitors, until there were 12-20 left for a final multi-round, single elimination contest. The problem was the contests were different each year, and for each grade. And the competitors would not know what each contest was until just before it started. I'd have no idea how to throw the competition until it was underway. I _could_ _not_ get into the final competition and I _could_ _not_ throw any team events. I _could_ , on the other hand, be totally screwed. Sorry, Grandma.

I would often see my classmates and the other students working hard to prepare for the range of possible events. Quirks were stretched to their limits and beyond. Bodies were improved and wits sharpened. I watched in wonder, mostly wondering what I should be doing. I spent time bouncing around campus, juggling, and tinkering with my robots. I also worked on the speed exercises All Might had set me.

At first, he had me wearing a headband with a tennis ball attached to it by an elastic cord. It hung between my eyes. I was to try to punch the ball repeatedly. It should bounce away from my fist, then be pulled back at speed. If I missed the repeat punch I would have to dodge it before it hit my head. It proved to be too easy for me, much like a two person or bounce juggling exercise. Punching instead of catching and throwing took a little time to get used to. But after that, I could do the trick every time. Unfortunately, this didn't transfer to my punching speed in a sparring match.

Then he set me up with a speed bag suspended between two elastic cords. My first punch knocked the bag across the room. We got another bag with stronger, stiffer cables. I learned to punch it carefully so as not to remove it from its elastic moorings. But regulating my strength seemed to make my blows even slower. This meant I usually missed the second blow and had to dodge. The dodging helped me increase my reaction speed. All Might pointed out that dodging was not the primary purpose of the drill. He told me to keep trying and to concentrate on hitting the ball repeatedly.

One afternoon I was in the gym punching and dodging almost mindlessly. I had fallen into a rhythm – punch, miss, dodge, dodge, punch, miss, dodge, dodge. A voice broke me out of my fugue state, causing me to get smacked in the face when I missed my punch unexpectedly. The bag stopped completely when I unconsciously absorbed its energy. As part of the exercise I had to concentrate on not automatically absorb the bag's momentum to avoid this very thing.

" … I don't think you're doing that right," the voice continued. I turned and saw Momo-chan in her workout clothes. She was wearing gym shorts and a tank top. She had fingerless padded gloves and was barefoot with padded leg guards. She exuded such grace and energy just standing there, it was like a glow surrounding her.

"Huh?" I replied, displaying the depths of my savoir faire.

"You seem to be practicing failure. You're drilling missing into your punching. That's not how you want to fight."

"I'm not. I'm anticipating the possibility I _might_ miss the follow-up and preparing to dodge if it happens."

"That may be how you started, but that's not what you were doing when I walked in."

"Really?" I remembered sparring with her. She landed four or five blows on me before I could react at all. She probably knew this stuff pretty well.

"Let me see you go again. And try to use a combo … jab-cross-jab," She did something with both hands, "… instead of separate punches."

I tired, not really knowing what a combo was or the difference between a jab and a cross. I punched the ball. At least I hit it the first time. My second blow missed completely. I dodged the bag and tried a third blow on its return swing. I missed and got the bag in the face.

"No. Not like that. Step aside, please." I did and she addressed the bag. "It should be something like this," Suddenly her hands and the bag were a blur. I could hear a pop-pop-pop like a machine gun in a movie. Then she stopped. Her hair was barely mussed.

"Ummm…"

"Let me demonstrate more slowly. Stand next to me and follow along." She took three steps away from the bag, but stayed in her crouch. I nervously settled next to her, trying to imitate her stance. She looked down and told me to move my feet, specifying where they should end up.

"Bend your knees more and put your weight on your toes rather than you heels. Bounce a little. Ok. Now a jab is a quick straight punch with your left hand. It's one of the most basic strikes. You use it to set the tempo of your fight. Put both hands up close to your chin like this." She demonstrated and I tried to copy her positioning.

"Keep your elbows in tight and straight down. Now step in with your left foot and throw your left fist forward. Rotate it to hit like this. Bring your fist back quickly into position under your chin. Make sure to keep your chin down at all times. It naturally wants to come up when you punch." She went through the described motions as she spoke.

I tried to follow along. She continued to repeat the movements. I followed. Then she stopped, but motioned for me to keep going. "Good. Keep your right hand tight under your chin. Don't throw your shoulder so much. Alright. Now try it on the bag."

I snapped out the jab and the bag disintegrated as my fist punched right through it. "Good follow through." Momo-chan said quietly. "I think you need a heavier bag."

She pointed me to a heavily reinforced bag in the corner. "Once you have the basic forms down, you can work on controlling your strength and building speed."

She spent more than an hour walking me through the jab, the cross, and the hook. At the end of that time we took a break. "These strikes can be trained in combinations to increase speed and power. You may think you don't need to worry about increasing your power, but remember the sorts of opponents we may be facing. Sometimes you'll need every bit of speed _and_ strength to prevail."

We were seated on the floor near the water cooler. I had a towel draped around my neck. I was dripping with sweat. "I really appreciate your helping me like this. You explain it so much more clearly than All Might. Thank you."

She blushed at the praise. "This is just the basics. You pick it up surprisingly well for someone with no proper training. My father would say it was a sign of both intelligence and good genetics."

It was my turn to blush. "Not that I don't appreciate it, but why are you taking time you should be using to prepare for the festival to help me. We will be competitors."

"I want to be a hero. Heroes help people, even at the cost of their own welfare."

"It's that simple?"

"Not simple, but it's the right thing to do."

After that I would occasionally see Momo-chan in the gym. She would nod to me and occasional offer pointers as I practiced. But I tried not to put her in situations where she would spend her training time on me. In other words, I avoided her. Self-sacrifice felt so good.

As I wallowed in my solitary training, I had time to think about her comments on being a hero and how they related to the motivations I saw in my classmates. The students didn't appear to be all that mercenary. Sure, they wanted a job when they grew up. But that wasn't what was driving them.

I had idea. Japan was known for its conformist culture. How much of the students trying so hard at the festival, at becoming a pro hero, was just because that was what was expected of them? I couldn't be sure.

Part of me was wondering if I was letting my own prejudices against my family shape my beliefs and behaviors, undermining my attempts at a rational evaluation of the role of the hero in society. I decide to take a more careful look at my own motivations with Dr. Shuzenji. But I was certain I had not succumbed to some unconscious bias that made me think poorly of heroes in general.

I had very good reasons for not wanting to be a hero. Right?


	12. Episode 12

The UA Sports Festival was an even bigger deal than we had been told. It was like the school's campus had become Disneyland. Three giant stadia, each capable of holding a hundred thousand spectators, had been built years before when this event first became popular. The grounds between the gates and the stadia were crammed with people walking between stalls selling food, drink, and souvenirs. Men, women, and children all aquiver with excitement and anticipation gladly lay down money to fill the school's coffers. Dozens of pro heroes hired as extra security patrolled the area, though they were hard to tell from the many costumed attendees. As we had been warned, there were pros from all the major and most of the minor hero agencies looking to find future stars.

In our waiting room, the students of Class 1-A were all sitting in our PE outfits, talking quietly or lost in our own thoughts.

"I wanted to wear my costume," complained Ashido. I wasn't happy about that either. Wearing my PE uniform meant I didn't have my bandoleers of throwing balls. Without them I was more limited in how I could hide my real power.

"To keep it fair, we can't," Ojiro informed her.

"I wonder what the first round's going to be …" Shoji pondered.

"No matter what comes, we have to be ready to deal with it." Tokoyami could not help sounding like his every utterance was a proverb for the ages. I smiled. He always came across as so somber. I wondered what he did to blow off steam. I tried to picture him singing karaoke or something. His dark shadow could make it a duet.

I caught Todoroki's and Midoriya's eyes. We quietly nodded to each other. Two days before we three had met at our normal café for a serious discussion.

 _"_ _I know that both of you have secrets," Todoroki started. "And I respect that. I know that Midoriya has some connection to All Might."_

 _"_ _What! I don't … that is to say …" Midoriya panicked. He was a really bad liar._

 _"_ _I don't know what it is and I'm not asking," the elemental assured him. "Hightower has an even more obvious connection to the American top hero."_

 _I nodded._

 _"_ _With your connections to top heroes, I see you two as my greatest competition in the upcoming contest. Looking at things objectively, I think I'm stronger than either of you."_

 _"_ _Yeah," Midoriya agreed reluctantly. I said nothing. From what I had seen, I thought I could take him, but I had little desire to prove it. I was not so sure that I was stronger than Midoriya, especially if he ever learned to use his power without breaking his own bones. He was too much like All Might. He had something beyond super strength._

 _"_ _I'm going to beat you both in the Festival competition." Todoroki's voice held steel. He was refusing to allow for any other possibility._

 _Midoriya's eyes widened and his breath caught. He looked away. After a moment, he sat up straighter, squared his shoulders, and turned to face his challenger. "Of course you're better than me. I think you're better than most people, looking at it objectively."_

 _I moved back to get out from between these two. I really had no dog in this fight. I couldn't afford to win, or even come close. Not and maintain my secret._

 _"_ _But every student is aiming for the top with everything they've got." Midoriya laid his fist on the table. "I'm going for it with everything I have, too."_

 _"_ _Ok." Todoroki nodded._

 _"_ _Ok." Midoriya repeated._

 _"_ _Well. Now we know where we stand." I said then changed the subject. "So … seen any good anime recently?"_

I could see the two were silently reaffirming their dedication to individual victory. They looked at me and I nodded, reaffirming my silent promise to score somewhere near the bottom of the hero student ranks.

A few minutes later the class was called out on to the field. Walking out of the door was like walking into a wall of sound. One hundred thousand voices cheered. Fireworks exploded in the sky and from the roof of the stadium. It was like nothing I had ever experienced.

"Wow!"

"It's so frightening …"

"So many people …"

"How can we perform in front of this crowd?"

"Succeeding in the public eye is also part of becoming a hero." Iida's statement seemed to help our classmates focus.

We stood in formation as the other classes assembled. Bakugo was called forward to make a speech for the whole first year. As expected, he made an ass of himself and offended everyone in the stadium. He had a real talent.

Finally, it was time to reveal the first event. It was an obstacle course race. Four klicks around the stadium in a marked course. And there would be obstacles. I thought frantically. It was an individual event, so I didn't have to worry about any teammates. There were around 220 students in the 11 classes. Figuring that1/2 to 2/3 would be eliminated in the round I had to stay behind the first 60 or so students. Perhaps more importantly there were 40 students in the two hero courses. I needed to be no further back than #35 of them to avoid any possibility of being transferred out of the program.

I decided my best bet was to stay in the front quarter during the first half of the race, then fall back near the end. That way I could control my placement more accurately. And I had to do it without standing out on camera.

"Start!"

As the mass of students rushed into the tight confines of the corridor leading to the outside track I realized we had hit the first obstacle. As one of the smaller guys in the class, I started to feel a little claustrophobic. Even though no one could move me against my will, the others were washing against me like I was a rock in the surf. I pushed my way to the right-side wall. Once I got my hand on it I was able to hop up and push off, using my arm strength to generate momentum. I sailed over the crowd and bounced off the left wall. Then the ceiling. Then the right wall again. I absorbed each impact to add to my momentum. I also aimed myself to bounce forward and to avoid going back down into the crowd.

Tsu-chan saw this and joined me bouncing above the crowd, as do Sero, though he was swinging rather than bouncing. Quickly the crowd began to disperse vertically. Just then, a wave of ice washed over the ground, trapping those who had not taken the high road. I could see Todoroki running in the lead. But Bakugo and a number of others were close behind him. I was a little surprised to see that Mineta, bouncing off his little spheres, had almost caught up to the elemental. Just before the little pervert was able to trap Todoroki, he was swatted from the air by a giant robot.

"Targets found … Lots!"

"The first barrier …" I heard Present Mic shouting over the PA system. Firing up the audience in the stands and watching on TV. "Robo Infurno!"

"Aren't those the zero point villains from the entrance exam?"

"Seriously! The hero course had to fight those?" That was intriguing. I'd heard from Kyoka-chan a bit about the entrance exam, but I had not pictured these massive mountains of metal.

As a robot aficionado, I have to tell you these were pretty cool machines. And I was not referring to the massive wave of ice that Todoroki sent crashing over them. The fact that Midoriya had taken one down with a single punch was pretty impressive. I was tempted for a moment to see if I could do the same. But only for a moment. Instead I stopped and watched as the first few competitors dealt with them.

Two of the students were caught under the collapsing behemoth Todoroki left in his wake. Luckily, they were both bricks and were able to resist injury and bash their way out. Some students decided to work together to get past the machines. While others, like Bakugo and Tokoyami, used their mobility to go over the robots. My classmates were taking an early lead. I wondered how much was them being more accustomed to quick thinking and responding to danger after our experiences in the USJ.

I saw Midoriya was not yet using his power, but had picked up a piece of debris and was using it as a weapon against the machines. I thought that was a good idea and started gathering metal bearings that had been scattered on the ground from the giant machine that had collapsed. I started juggling four of them as I bounced between some of the smaller attackers. Momo-chan had pulled a cannon out of her abs and started taking out the giants. She was amazing to watch. I took out a couple of the smaller machines with my improvised weapons, gathering more metal balls to replace the ones I threw. After that the majority of the students were able to make it though.

I raced ahead, bouncing over most of the general and business course students. I tried to keep pace with Pony, who was near the lead of her class. She could run like her namesake, but the crowd hampered her ability to really pick up speed on the narrow course.

The next obstacle was a deep canyon filled with tall rock pillars connected by thin ropes. According to the instructions, if you fell you were out. It was a test of mobility and served to slow down some of the fastest runners, like Iida and Pony. Others, like Tsu-chan, Mei, and Tsuburaba-kun, used their powers and tools to get past quickly. I decided to bounce across in the first third of my class.

Th last obstacle was a minefield, designed to put the leaders at a real disadvantage as they had many more mines to avoid than those that followed them. I knew this was where I had to fail. It was surprisingly hard. I knew I could easily cross the field in a single bound. Or I could run across, absorbing momentum off the exploding mines. I was getting caught up in the competition and wanted to show what I could do.

Instead I decided to play human pachinko ball. I stepped on the nearest mine and allowed it to bounce me into the field, where each mine bounced me again. I went back and forth across the field. Mostly I moved sideways, but occasionally forward, and more often back. I was helping to clear the field, so I felt I was doing something useful. Then a huge explosion rocked the rear of the field, sending shockwaves that bounced me over the barricade that marked the edge of the course.

We had been told that if you were sent out of bounds during the negotiation of an obstacle that you had to go back to the beginning of that obstacle and try again. So back I went. There were a number of students that were forced to start the minefield over. But Midoriya's stunt had managed to clear almost all the mines near the beginning of the course making it easier for those behind him to move forward. Not knowing how far back I was, I had to hurry a bit. Hoping to meet my goal of somewhere in the second quartile, I made sure to pass at least three people from the hero course before crossing the finish line.

Unfortunately, that put me at #39 in the results. They announced the first 42 competitors moved on to the next round – the cavalry battle. This was a team event which I couldn't tank without sabotaging my teammates' chances.

Crackdoodles.


	13. Episode 13

"Hey, American … Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure …"

For some reason, the whole cavalry battle is a bit of a blur for me. The only thing I really remember is the announcement of the winners.

"In third place, Tetestu…Huh? What, it's Team Shinso?!" Present Mic yelled. "When did you come from behind?"

I found myself standing next to Shoda-kun, Ojiro, and some kid I didn't recognize. I knew he had spoken to me before the battle started, but I had no idea who he was or what had happened. If my team was really in third place, I was screwed.

"Thank you for your hard work," said the kid, who I deduced was Shinso, before he walked away. There was a break before the final event, which was to be a series of one-on-one battles, leading to an eventual final bout between the two finalists. I tried to find a quiet place to think.

I could _not_ afford to get into the final matches. It would be way too much individual attention and air time. I wracked my brain. I could just try to bow out, but I didn't think Kocho-sensei would allow that. I could take dive, but it would likely be too obvious and I'd still get too much screen time. Or I could just pack up and go home now. The only other option I could see was revealing my name and trying to win. The problem with that was that my Dad would take it is as proof that I was a chip off the old block and should be eager to follow in his footsteps. That wasn't going to happen.

I still had no idea what I was going to do when they lined the sixteen of us up and started to select the pairings for the first round. I was considering pulling a Midoriya and breaking my own leg to get out of the tournament. But I was worried that Recovery Girl could fix it before the first bout.

"The sixteen finalists can decide whether or not they want to participate in the recreation." I wondered for a minute whether I could drown myself temporarily bobbing for apples or whatever the fun and games were. I figured that was not very likely.

"I'm sure some of you want to rest or save your strength." I started wishing really hard for an attack by an alien armada or something to end this thing prematurely.

"Now, from the first pairing …" Where are the League of Villains when you need them!

"Um …excuse me." Ojiro interrupted. "I'm withdrawing."

Yes!

"WHAT!"

I'm sure you can guess which was me and which was everyone else on the field.

"I barely remember anything from the cavalry battle until almost the very end," the tailed boy expounded. "I think it was that guy's Quirk. I know this is a great chance and that it's foolish to waste it. But everyone here competed by giving their all! I can't be up there with everyone else without knowing what really happened."

Others tried to convince him he was being too punctilious. I was thinking, could this be my way out too?

"I'm talking about my pride here. I just can't …"

"I'm Shoda Neregeki from Class B." said the other boy on my cavalry team as he stepped forward. "I also want to withdraw for the same reason. Regardless of ability, don't you think it goes against the goals of this sports festival for those that didn't do anything to go to the final round?"

"I have to agree. I'm Hightower Otis from Class A. I was also on that team and have no memory of the event. It would be wrong of me to advance under these conditions. I must withdraw as well." I managed to get it out with a straight face, though I don't think Kyoka-chan bought it. Now it was up to the chief umpire, Midnight.

"Youthful talk like that is something I like! Shoda, Ojiro, Hightower! I accept your withdraw!" I just about sagged in relief. I was too relieved to listen to how they would fill our places.

"Dude," Pony said quietly in English. "Tell me you had any desire to be in the finals and I'll call you a liar to your face. You're luckier than a skinny turkey at Thanksgiving for getting out of that so easily."

"Ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies," I confirmed.

She just shook her head. "I really don't get you."

"Not many people do," I replied. We watched as several of Pony's classmate argued that the others should join the final round. In the end three students took our places in the list. Not long after, Midnight revealed the pairings for the first round.

Pony and I spent the next hour joining in with the organized "recreation". There was a scavenger hunt, giant ball races, and other activities. While most of the games had a distinctly Japanese flavor, Pony and I tried our best to fit in. It was fun. It was also relaxing to speak English as we wandered around the booths and other attractions.

Pony pointed out the Class 1-A girls all dressed in cheerleader outfits. "What's that about?" she asked.

"No idea." We watched them for a moment. "Do you think I should offer them my expert American coaching?"

"Do you actually know anything about cheerleading?"

"Nope, but I'm willing to learn." I turned to her when she poked me in the ribs. "Hey! Do _you_ know anything about cheerleading? I'm sure they could come up with another outfit for you if you wanted to lead the … band? Group? Flock? What do you call a group of cheerleaders?"

"A team. Yes, I do. And no, I don't have any desire to get involved."

I looked at the girls for a minute. I noticed Momo-chan seemed unhappy about something. I turned to Pony. "I'll be right back."

I went over to the notional cheerleaders and made eye contact with Momo-chan. She nodded at me. I stopped a bit away from the others and gestured her over. "Hey, Hightower-kun. Did you need something?"

"Please call me Otis," I said. "Two things. First, I wanted to congratulate you for making the finals. And to wish you luck in your matches." She nodded her acceptance. "I also saw that you seem upset or unhappy about something. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"I let Mineta trick us into these ridiculous outfits. I don't understand why I keep believing him."

"He's a devious little pervert alright. But don't let him get you down. You're not the only cheer team (thanks Pony) around," I pointed to the professionals giving a show on the other side of the stadium. "And if you'll forgive me. You look good in that outfit. It reminds me of home." I added the last bit to cleverly hide the fact I had complimented the class beauty. Her blush told me it probably didn't work.

"Well … I have to get back…"

"Yeah, anyway. Ganbate kudasai!" I shuffled back to Pony who was watching the interaction with great interest.

"Something you need to tell me, Mr. Elevator?"

"Nope. Not a single thing. No idea what you're talking about. Hey! Is that Comette over there?"

After a quick peek where I was pointing, Pony, not seeing the popular American heroine, turned back to me and grinned evilly. I maintained my dignity and suggested we continue our promenade.

It was interesting watching the families who had come to watch the events. I could tell some were related to our classmates. I was also intrigued by the number of pro heroes in the crowd. I eavesdropped on some of their conversations. Many were talking about Todoroki, Bakugo, Midoriya, and some of the other students who had stood out in the first two rounds.

In the distance, I saw a large man with flames all over his head and body. I knew that was Endeavor, Todoroki's dad. I stayed away from him, not wanting to risk his recognizing me. I spotted Desutegoro walking with a man in a wooden mask and a blond woman with purple horns. I pointed her out to Pony.

"Any relation?" I joked.

"That's Mt. Lady. I saw her on the news. They say she's relatively new. Can grow to 50 feet tall or something. The press seems to find her very photogenic." She made air quotes on the last word.

"I'll bet they do," I agreed. "Hope she doesn't try to use her powers in the crowd. She could crush a lot of people."

"Yeah. I hadn't thought of that. I wonder why they hired her."

"Her 'photogenic' qualities?" I suggested with an eyebrow waggle. She elbowed me again.

"I saw you during the obstacle course. You were doing pretty well." She blushed a bit at my compliment.

"Were you shooting lightning from your horns?"

"Yup. Static electricity, really. I call it my Horn Cannon. I generate a lot of static electricity when I run. I can store it and release it through my horns, either with a touch or in an arc."

"That's pretty cool."

"Thanks," she looked at me shyly. "What do you think of the hero name Charger? For me, I mean."

"I like it. It refers to both your equine nature and your electric power."

"And my favorite attack."

"Country girls charge ahead?"

"Better believe it."

We got back to the stands in time for the first bouts. I felt for Midoriya as he was mind controlled by the same scumbag that had used me. I appreciated the fact that I was able to get out of the contest because of what Shinso had done to me, but I really resented his using me like he had. I felt violated and really wanted to discuss the matter with him in a dark alley one night. Midoriya impressed me when he was able to break out of Shinso's control. From Ojiro's reactions, I guessed he had given Midoriya the benefit of his experience with the controller. Good for him.

I had never encountered a psionic before, though I had heard stories about them from my family. Grandma joked that we were called Armstrongs not Mindstrongs for a reason. I'd always laughed at that joke before, but I thought it a lot less funny now.

I heard the crowd talking about Shinso as he left. The other members of the general studies course were cheering him for his getting so far and falling only to the winner of the first event. Some of the pros in the audience were agreeing that his mind control power might be really useful against villains. It seemed he might get recruited to be a sidekick, even without being in the hero course. I wondered about the ethics of mind control in law enforcement. I also wondered about the ethics of _violence_ in law enforcement.

The rest of the first round was mostly noticeable for its lack of surprises. Todoroki overwhelmed Sero, but he once again used way more power than the job required. If he didn't learn to control that he would cause more collateral damage than the villains. Watching Mei-chan's use Iida as a sales demonstration of her rather impressive gear was amusing. I thought her stepping out at the end was a nice touch. Serious geek cred points. The only real surprise was how close Uraraka came to beating Bakugo. I had no idea she had that much lift capacity or that much determination. Girl's got grit. And once again Bakugo was smarter than I expected. He took her seriously from the start.

I was disappointed that Momo-chan lost in the first round. I could see she was really upset about it. I was too embarrassed by my earlier behavior to approach her. So, I limited myself to giving her a sympathetic smile as she walked off the field. I hoped she wasn't regretting the time she had spent helping me. I was feeling pretty guilty about it.

The second round kicked off with the battle I was both dreading and expecting. I just figured it would be the final match. Midoriya and Todoroki were awesome. Each showed a greater grasp of their powers than I had seen in them before. They also displayed cunning, heart, and athleticism, as well as sportsmanship and real respect for each other. Then they tried to blow up the stadium with a hundred thousand people in it. They're both menaces and should be locked up for their own and everyone else's protection.

The final match between Todoroki and Bakugo was somehow anti-climactic after the previous round. I don't think Todoriki was firing on all cylinders. I think Bakugo felt that Todoroki did not give his best either. Or at least that was what I got from his insane ravings after the fact. Leave it to Bakugo to take first place, yet still be spitting mad.

Idiot.


	14. Episode 14

As a reward for our efforts in the sports festival, UA gave all students a few days off. I just think they needed the time to clean up and restore the campus from the damages that several hundred thousand wild sports fan and pro heroes did to the place. The exchange program organizers saw this as an opportunity to offer their American guests some traditional cultural experiences. So, Pony and I, along with our host families, were off for a weekend of sightseeing at and around Mt. Fuji. Ectoplasm-sensei was to be our guide.

We met Friday at 0800 in front of Shinjuku Station in central Tokyo.

"It's sooo crowded," I whined as the seventh salaryman bounced off me as we stood outside the south entrance. The kinetic energy generated by a single person walking next to me is too slight for me to notice its unconscious absorption. But standing in a mass with tens of thousands of people rushing to work, constantly moving and colliding with each other, was generating sufficient energy that I was getting a little antsy from the continual influx. "Shouldn't we have arranged to meet after rush hour was over?"

"I like crowds," Ectoplasm-sensei grinned. Of course, with his lipless mouth he was always grinning, but you could hear it in his voice. "Besides, we wanted to get an early start to see all the sights in the beautiful Fuji Goko region. I suppose we could have meet at 0600. We would have avoided the crowd then."

Kyoka-chan jabbed my side with an ear jack. "No. this is just fine, sensei," she rushed to assure him.

"The Hados should be here soon. Then we can get started." The masked man concluded. I wondered why he was in costume. He was drawing more than a little attention. I'm convinced half of the people who ran into me did so because they were staring at the teacher. I guessed he felt he was 'On Duty'. A few moments later Pony and her family arrived in a taxi.

Mrs. Hado was paying the driver while Pony and Nee-chan came bounding over, weaving through the crowd. "Ohaio!" Pony chimed. She was excited and fell back into her California habits, hugging Kyoka-chan and me. She started towards Ectoplasm-sensei, but he took a step back and she stopped, blushing.

"Ohio Gozaimasu, Sensei," Nee-chan bowed. "Thank you for this opportunity and for your guidance."

"Think nothing of it," he replied in English. "When possible I think we should speak English this weekend. Part of this exchange is the opportunity for UA students to improve their English skills, so neh?"

"Does that include parents?" Nee-chan asked, smiling at her mother.

"My English is just fine, de wanai Pony-chan?" Mrs. Hado bragged.

"Almost perfect, Hado-san." Pony praised diplomatically, though it sounded pretty good to me.

"Right! Let us get to the train." Sensei clapped his hands and started forward. The crowd parted as much as it could to make way for him. I motioned the ladies to proceed me, but they demurred. I had seen this before. My Grandma had taught me the ladies go first, but women in Japan, especially older women, did not seem to be comfortable with that. I outwaited them and was able to bring up the rear of the procession.

Almost an hour later we were traveling through a somewhat rural region in the mountains southwest of the capitol. While the ladies carried on a conversation, I was half asleep looking out the window. We had been roughly paralleling a river for the last several miles. I was surprised at how picturesque the Japanese countryside was. I knew there were lots of mountainous areas in Japan, but seeing them was different. I was looking forward to seeing Fuji more closely.

We were in the front car of the train and, as there was no engine pulling us, I was able to see directly ahead. As we came out of a small town, I saw we were about to cross the river on a long bridge sitting high above the river and the farm fields on the other side.

As we crossed the bridge, there was a loud explosion and two pillars of smoke just ahead of us. A section of track dropped away, leaving nothing but air. Time suddenly seemed to stand still. I reacted without thinking.

Moving much faster than I thought possible, I dove through the front window, glass shattering around me. My hands touched the window frame briefly, helping me flip around so I was upside down, directly under the front of the car. I grabbed onto a metal part and pulled myself around into an upside-down squat, feet braced against the undercarriage as the car began to plummet toward the ground.

I absorbed as much of the train's downward momentum as I could. Most of it went to my muscles, but the ten percent or so of the energy that I could redirect I pushed to reinforce the train's forward motion. Then I kicked off.

Physics says that force is mass times acceleration and that one body, exerting a force on another body, exerts equal force on itself but in the opposite direction. Kicking off of the train I was applying a lot of acceleration to both myself and the train. The carriage out-massed me by several orders of magnitude. Therefore, I had to use my strength to add tremendous acceleration, causing the train to move against gravity's pull.

It worked. I shot down towards the ground at a velocity far exceeding terminal velocity, while the train car sailed upwards and forwards.

The first carriage crashed back onto the track, pulling the next two cars with it. The connection between the third and fourth car failed and the fourth and fifth cars started downwards. Automatic sensors had applied the brakes all along the train when the first car left the tracks. As the fifth car plunged over the edge of the broken track, it broke away from the rest of the cars. The final five cars shrieked to a stop on the intact part of the bridge.

This mean there were two cars plummeting towards me.

I bounced off the ground, shooting back up. I was just in time to catch the two falling cars, one hand on each connector. Instinctively absorbing their downward momentum, I increased my strength and caused them to stop without the fatal jerk. The absorption of the passenger's kinetic energy was not as effective as so many were not in direct contact with the car as they tumbled through the air.

Catching the carriages, I was pushed back to the ground. Again, I absorbed the impact on landing, transferring what kinetic energy I could to the cars, vectored to cause them to land with as little shock as possible. They settled into the soft mud of the farm field, barely missing a small building that had been crushed by the falling track. A truck on the adjacent road pulled to a stop.

Just then four clones of Ectoplasm coalesced next to me. "Start clearing these cars. I'll check on the injured. I'm authorizing you to use your Quirk for the duration of the emergency." He had fallen back to speaking Japanese and it took a moment for me to understand him.

I nodded, ripping the doors off both carriages. Two Ecto-clones entered each of the cars. I took a moment to look around. I could see Nee-chan flying towards the rear of the train still on the bridge over the river. Mrs. Hado, who I recalled was a doctor of some sort, was floating slowly in the air behind her, carrying a crash kit marked with the red cross. I wondered for a second if the girl had inherited her flight from her mother. I hoped Pony and Kyoka-chan were alright.

I went into the left-hand car to offer assistance. I saw several men, women, and children laying on the floor of the carriage, bleeding and moaning in pain. I froze. I had another flashback. This time there were so many people under mounds of rubble, crushed pieces of concrete and shards of glass. They were bleeding and crying out and …

"Abunai!" Ectoplasm cried, jogging me back to the present. He was pointing towards a group of supers closing in on us. I shook myself and took a closer look.

There were five of them. Three were running along the road that was adjacent to the bridge, on the level of the farm fields. Two were in the air moving towards the train cars on the ground. They were all wearing a uniform of some sort, with black leggings and different colored tops. From Sensei's warning, I was guessing they were not here to help. He already had three clones moving to intercept the ground force so I looked to the flyers.

There was a flaming flyer in burnt orange and a bald fellow in magenta powered armor. Neither were Japanese. And both were pointing directly at me. _What the kale?!_ I wondered if that might be a clue as to what they were after.

"You're comin' with us, seppo," said the flame thrower. In English, Australian by the sound of it.

"I don't think so," I replied, launching myself at the concrete abutment to get away from the gathering passengers. I bounced, aiming myself to intercept the power suit. He threw up a forcefield of some sort, which repelled me. Since I was now flying towards the orange guy I didn't mind.

"Gotcha!" He caught my arm as I went by. I used my momentum to swing him around, throwing him into the nearby river.

That left me in the air holding nothing, so I dropped back to the ground. Only to be met with a powerful punch from a big guy in light blue. I soaked the impact and smiled up at him. "That wasn't very friendly. Now why don't you tell me who you are and what you want."

"Easy enough," said the power suit, floating two dozen feet away. "We're the Outback Bashers. And we want you. We figured the extra pickings from this little bingle was just a bonus."

"So, come along quiet-like or we'll have ourselves a bit of a blue. Either way we get you." The big guy has a surprisingly tenor voice. In the distance, I heard a clap of thunder. I glanced over and saw several Ecto-clones flying into the air around a short guy in green. No help there.

"Did you blow up the bridge?" I asked.

"Not so much blowing it up as selectively collapsing just the part I wanted to. Not to brag, but I'm pretty proud of that particular job."

"You shouldn't have done that." I shook my head. This doofus had hurt who knows how many people and he was proud of it. I snagged a sharp shard of steel debris and tossed it towards his jetpack. I wanted him on the ground. A spinning blade flew out of nowhere and knocked my projectile off target.

"Can't let you stick Sixer. He's a dinkum cobber and the brains of the outfit. Besides Renegade is the only bladesman allowed in this donnybrook." I turned and saw the last guy, dressed in red, with two knives spinning in his hands. Messrs. Green and Orange were also making their way quickly towards me. I saw no sign of Ectoplasm.

Realizing that my fighting them where I was currently would endanger the passengers, I decided to take the better part of valor. "Come and get me then!" I leapt towards the riverbank, away from the bridge abutments. They followed.

 _At least I got them away from the train,_ I thought. There was not a lot else I could do. Without my specialized rubber balls I was concerned that any rocks I threw might seriously injure them. The same was true if I just smacked them, not that it was likely that I was fast enough to hit them despite how I moved during the crash.

I remembered the obliterated speedbag and pictured doing that to one of these guys' heads and shuddered. I didn't have any practice pulling my punches when my strength varied so much based on the energy I had absorbed at any given moment. After the train wreck, I was pretty stoked. I thought the powered armor guy and the giant could probably take a blow, but I couldn't be sure. If there was just one or two of them, I could try to grab them and hold on until the cops came, but not with five.

The Bashers didn't give me much time to consider my options. I could pretty much ignore Mr. Blue's attacks. And so far, Mr. Magenta had mostly coordinated from the air, just dropping the occasional concussive stun bomb which I could absorb. Messrs. Green and Orange attacked with energies I couldn't absorb, but I by this time was nigh invulnerable, so they were no threat either. I thought Mr. Red was the least of my worries, until he used some sort of martial arts throw to send me face first into the mud of the river bank. How was that fair?

As I lay there thinking the mud wasn't so bad, Sixer shot a capture net that seemed to tighten around me the more I fought against it. I started to panic and pushed harder against its constriction. It was tougher than steel, but I shredded it once I really tried.

I stood up on the bank, surrounded by the five. We were at a bit of a standoff. They couldn't hurt me and I couldn't attack without risking really hurting them.

Suddenly, Nee-chan descended from above and blasted the two flyers out of the sky. Then, a giant Ecto-clone, almost as tall as the train bridge, coalesced and swallowed us all in one big bite. The Bashers and I found ourselves entombed within the shell of the giant clone. I tried not to struggle. I figured I could break free, but that might release the bad guys as well. They were certainly having no success getting out on their own.

Ectoplasm's main form walked up, followed by Pony and Kyoka-chan looking ready to rumble. With them on the ground and Nee-chan in the air, I didn't think these outback bozos were going anywhere.

We never did make it to Mt. Fuji, at least not that weekend.


	15. Episode 15

"Please tell us once again what happened, Mr. Armstrong," I winced at the detective's use of my real name. I _really_ stunk at the secret ID thing.

I had been repeating my story to one official or another ever since the National Police helicopter had landed to take the Bashers into custody. Ectoplasm had demanded that the four UA students be questioned only in the presence of their parent or, in my case, a UA official. Mrs. Hado and Mrs. Jiro were transported to the police station along with the UA teacher and students to make our official statements.

When we got to the station, I was asked for my passport. I gave it reluctantly. The desk officer who was entering the data into the system started reading the document out loud as he typed, checking with me for the accuracy of the information. When he read out "Last Name: Armstrong" I saw everyone but Pony and, surprisingly, Mrs. Jiro gape in shock.

"What?!"

"I thought your name was Hightower," Ectoplasm asked quietly.

"I am attending UA under my Grandmother's name. Kocho-sensi and the Program Office agreed to this."

"Are you related to Captain Armstrong?" Nee-chan asked, excited. I hesitated. The others in the room looked on with great interest.

"Yes. He's my father." I waited while the gasps drew most of the air out of the room. When sufficient oxygen had circulated in from the ventilation system I continued. "If possible, I would ask you to keep this confidential. I really don't want people to associate me with the Armstrong Family. I want to be treated like any other UA student."

I turned to Kyoka-chan who was beginning to stare daggers at me, her ear jacks writhing. "You've seen how the school reacts to Todoroki. They all expect him to be just like his father. He got more attention at the sports festival than any of the second years or most of the third years. He never has the chance to just be a normal kid. I know exactly what that's like. I get it all the time at home. Maybe even worse. I just wanted it to be different here. I wanted to be normal."

"No chance of that," my host-sister snarked, "You're way too weird to be normal." She smiled a bit and turned to her mother. "I can't believe you knew and didn't tell me."

"I had to know. I'm his local guardian. I've got all the paperwork in his real name."

"You knew too?" Nee-chan asked Pony.

"He's pretty well known back home. Sort of like if All Might had three kids. You'd probably know them all, even if the youngest wasn't a hero yet."

"Excuse me please," the officer interrupted. "We have to get this finished before we can get your statements."

When the officer got to the part of the report asking about my hero license status, Ectoplasm confirmed that Pony, Kyoka-chan, and I were all working under his direct supervision during a school event when we used our powers. I thought he was stretching the truth just a little bit, but it was better than going to jail for saving the train. Nee-chan already had her provisional license so was covered for her actions.

Each of us gave our statement detailing our locations, actions, intentions, and impressions. Then we had to tell it again, while they asked for clarifications and details. Then different officials came in and we had to tell it all again, followed by more questions. Somehow, I neglected to mention my flashback. I didn't think it pertinent to the investigation.

Then Kocho-sensei came and we had to tell him. Then we had to write it all down in our own handwriting. Pony and I wrote in English so there was no possibility of a linguistic mistake on our parts. Finally, a detective named Tsukauchi came to talk with the teachers. After that, we were released. It was late evening by the time we got back to the Jiros' house. I was exhausted, more emotionally than physically, and fell into bed to sleep the night.

During my slumber, I re-lived the bloody scene on the train, intercut with scenes from some earlier disaster. It was the interior of a collapsed building. People, mostly women and children, were in horrible distress. They were trapped under piles of debris or stumbling around in a daze or lying injured or unconscious on the cracked marble floor. All were crying out for help or howling in pain. I seemed to be stuck shifting helplessly between the two scenes for most of the night. In both dream scenarios, I was sure it was all my fault. I felt such heartrending guilt and regret. And I couldn't wake up.

In the morning, I finally woke to the sound of my host sister playing her guitar. I recognized it as a piece she played when she needed to think, rather than when she was practicing or learning. After washing up I entered the music room and sat quietly, listening with my eyes closed.

I was dreading what the news was going to say about the attack. I had no idea who the Bashers were or why they would be after me. But it was all my fault the other people on the train were hurt. I racked my brains, but couldn't find recollection that connected them to my family or their enemies. I was also counting how many people now knew about my identity, and whether that meant I was bringing danger to the Jiros and my classmates. Finally I grabbed my hair and screamed, "Ahhhh!"

"What?" Kyoka-chan asked as if I had just cleared my throat.

"I'm really bad at this secret identity thing. I don't see how the old mystery heroes did it." I looked at her, shaking my head.

"How many people have figured it out or found out?"

"Kocho-sensei, Pony, and I guess your parents knew from the beginning. All Might, Midoriya, and Todoroki found out after the USJ incident. Now you and everyone in the station last night."

"And the Bashers and whoever sent them …"

"And anyone from the League of Villains who might have figured it out. And anyone who saw me on TV and recognized me … Like I said I'm _really_ bad at this."

"Does your dad, your family, have anything to do with why you don't want to be a hero?" She continued to strum quietly.

"Absolutely. They represent exactly what I think is wrong with pro heroes. My father and mother are in it for the money. My sister loves the fame. And my brother just likes to beat people up." I started pacing. "I want to help people. And watching pro heroes in the US for most of my life, I don't think that's what they do."

"They don't catch criminals? They don't rescue people?"

"They do. But they seem to do it for the money or the fame or whatever personal reason. If people do get helped, it is incidental, almost accidental. I want helping people to be my focus, my main mission."

"Then you know what sort of hero you want to be. And it sounds like it's the best kind."

"I don't know …"

"And think about how your family would feel if you became your own kind of hero, showing them how it should be done."

I smiled at the thought. "You may have something there …"

Then my face fell.

"What?" she asked.

"Maybe I could try to help people as a hero but so far all I've done is hurt the people I wanted to save. At the USJ, it was my fault All Might got injured by Shigaraki. And yesterday, I couldn't save the people on the train. I wasn't fast enough, strong enough, good enough. Maybe I shouldn't try to be a hero."

"What do you mean? You saved the train."

"I heard last night that almost a hundred people were injured. I saw them. They were broken and bleeding. I didn't save them … I couldn't save them." I turned away as I started sobbing uncontrollably.

They took me to see Dr. Shuzenji. He had me laid out on a couch, just like on TV. I didn't want to talk. So he started. "This isn't the first time you've been in a disaster."

"You've heard of my family?" I joked automatically.

"When you were in kindergarten your class went on a trip to the New York Museum of Science. Miss Parker was your teacher. There was a robotics exhibit …"

"Robo-rama …" I muttered. Suddenly it all came back.

#################################

Little Otis Armstrong's' kindergarten class was having a special day. It was a field trip to the science museum. Otis was very excited because the museum had a special exhibit called _Robo-rama! The Future World of Robotics!_ He and the other boys were really looking forward to seeing all the cool machines. He had heard even the girls were happy because there was another special exhibit on the history of diamonds. Otis agreed that seeing the world's largest diamond was pretty cool, but not nearly as cool as robots.

Miss Parker was leading the class into the big building with Mr. Hailey following behind to make sure no one got lost. It would have been easy to get lost because there were so many bright and interesting things to see once they got through the shiny glass and metal doors.

After a long time waiting in line the class was finally through the ticket taker and into the main museum. Otis rushed over to the railing and looked down onto the main floor. There were so many people, all wandering around and looking at the metal and glass displays of diamonds.

At first, he was disappointed because Otis didn't see any robots. Then he heard whirring and beeping coming from above. He looked up and saw that one floor up there were all sorts of mechanical marvels. He couldn't see them very well so he leaned between the metal railings trying to get a better look. He started to slip through, when a hand caught his shoulder.

"Otis Armstrong!" yelled Miss Parker. "What do you think you're doing? You need to stay with the class. And never lean over a railing like that again. You could have fallen."

"But I wasn't leaning over the railing. It's too high." The fearless five-year-old explained.

"You know what I mean …" the teacher started to say when she was stopped by the sound of screams coming from below. They both looked down and saw that there was trouble in the diamond exhibit.

A man was throwing off his coat and starting to get bigger. He grew until he was twice as tall as everyone else. And it looked like he was made of rock, like the outside of his friend Bobby's house in Greenwich Village.

"That's right. Scatter like little roaches. Ain't none of you can stop Brownstone!" Otis realized it was a real villain. He had even heard about him when his dad was telling his mom about a fight one day.

Three museum guards ran up to the stone giant and tried using their stunners on him. The bad guy just ignored their electric rods and swatted the guards into the displays, knocking some of the posters and stuff over.

"Don't bother me. The Armstrongs is the only ones strong enough to stop me, and they're all in DC this week. Said so on the news. While the heroes away, the villains will play. And I wanna play with some really big diamonds!" He started smashing at the case holding the biggest diamond.

Otis heard everyone calling out for a hero to save them. He decided he had to do something. Miss Parker had let go of him and was standing with her hand over her mouth, looking at the other kids. So, Otis squirmed through the railing and jumped to the floor below.

He landed on his feet. The impact made him feel stronger. He jumped to the top of the diamond display and held out his hand.

"I'm an Armstrong and I'll stop you!" Everyone went quiet. Brownstone stepped back and looked at the little boy. Then he started laughing.

"You're gonna stop me?! Go away kid. I'm working here." The giant slapped Otis almost gently. Otis caught the stone hand that was almost as big as the kindergartener's whole body and stopped it in mid-swing. He shoved and the villain went flying across the room. Brownstone smashed through a pillar and landed against the wall. That made the giant mad.

He jumped to his feet and charged across the room. "Armstrong!"

Before Otis could move, the giant fist plowed into him. The boy flew away like he had been shot from a cannon. He smashed through a different pillar and skidded to a stop on the other side. The crowd screamed. The giant charged after him.

Otis could feel himself swell with energy from the collisions, like a balloon being blown up. He stood up, ready to run at the bad guy, when Miss Parker teleported right in front of him. She was always teleporting in class to get to kids who were in trouble. "Otis! Are you ok? What are you doing?!"

Behind her, Otis could see Brownstone draw back his fist to punch the teacher. Moving more quickly than the ye could follow, the young boy grabbed Miss Parker's hand and swung her around, like in dance lessons. He got between her and the giant.

Brownstone swung like he was trying for a home run and hit Otis square in the back. Otis absorbed most of the blow, but was knocked forward into his teacher. She went rolling across the floor, stopping under one of the diamond cases. Otis stopped before her. He saw that Miss Parker was hurt and got really angry. He spun around and saw Brownstone standing in the center of the floor, shaking his hand like it hurt.

"NO!" the boy cried and threw himself at the bad man as hard and fast as he could. Before the giant could even move, Otis slammed into him, causing a big shockwave that knocked the stone man back through two pillars and a wall.

Between the damage and the shockwave, the building started to collapse. Concrete, steel, and glass was falling everywhere. People were screaming and bleeding. And little Otis Armstrong look on as this happened all around him, tears streaming down his cheeks, saying one thing over and over again.

"I'm sorry … Please … I didn't mean … I'm so sorry …"

Later, the only thing Otis would even partially remember of the day was one rescue worker saying to another, "The only reason no one died is because the new robot prototypes were able to dig people out of the wreckage so quickly. Those robots really saved the day."

#################################

"Oh God!" I cried out in English. "I remember. I almost killed all those people. I'm a monster."

"That's not quite how I wanted this to happen," Dr. Shuzenji muttered to himself. "You're not a monster. You were a little boy who didn't know his own strength. You were trying to help people and do good."

"What happened to everyone? I can't remember any details."

"I imagine your family kept you from the news. I got my information from media accounts. No one died, but several people were injured. Your teacher, Miss Parker, was protected by the display case she was trapped under and came out with minimal injuries. Some of the children in your class were hospitalized, but survived. Even the villain was taken into custody after a short stay in the hospital. Several newspapers made much of the fact that the youngest Armstrong already had an arrest to his name."

"Wait, how did you know I'm an Armstrong?"

The psychiatrist sighed. "I can't treat you under an alias. But I'll keep it confidential. We have to talk about the importance of your secret identity, but that's for another day."

"I had a flashback to the museum when I was on the train. After the crash, when I saw all the injured people. I started seeing the museum. I think I have been dreaming about it too."

"Tell me about your dreams."

I'll spare you the rest of the session. Suffice to say, afterwards I still felt guilty. But I could manage that guilt better. It was a breakthrough, but not a miracle cure.


	16. Episode 16

When we returned to UA, the class was still hyped about the sports festival and the first taste of fame that the publicity of the games had garnered most of them.

"So many people talked to me on my way here!" Ashido squealed.

"Yeah, me too!" Kirishima bragged.

"After just one day, we've suddenly been thrust into the spotlight, neh?" Kaminari added.

I was just happy that the train attack had not made the news in Tokyo. Kyoka-chan had agreed to not talk about the battle, or my real name, as long as I could keep the secret from general knowledge.

"But as soon as the majority of the class knows who you are, I'm going to be shouting the story form the roof. It is too good a tale to keep to myself. And given your luck, I figure I'll only have to keep quiet for a week, two at the outside." I was touched by her faith.

Aizawa-sensei was unbandaged and apparently uninjured when he arrived that morning. He kicked the class off with an announcement that caused some commotion. "We're having a special hero informatics class today." I think everyone figured he meant a pop quiz. Instead he said, "Code names. You'll be coming up with hero names."

"This is related to the pro hero draft picks I mentioned the other day. The draft begins in earnest in the second and third years. For them to extend offers to first years like you shows that they are interested in your future potential." He displayed the students who had gotten internship offers from pro hero agencies. Both Todoroki and Bakugo had a couple of thousand offers with Tokoyama, Iida, Kaminari, and Momo-chan each getting more than a hundred. Most students got no offers and were supposed to pick their internships from a list of 40 partner agencies that often worked with the school.

I was shocked to see I had one offer where students like Midoriya and Ashido, who had gotten to the second round of the finals, and Ojiro, who had been the first to withdraw from the finals had none. When Todoroki mentioned his numerous offers were probably because of his dad, I looked at my one offer suspiciously.

Midoriya asked for more about the internships. Aizawa-sensei explained. "At USJ you already got to experience combat with real villains," his glanced flicked to Kyoka-chan and me for a moment, "but it will still be meaningful training for you to see pros at work first hand."

"That explains the hero names!" Uraraka cheered. "Things are suddenly getting a lot more fun!" I cringed when I heard that. Last time someone mentioned fun the teacher had threatened to expel one of us.

Midnight-sensei was brought in to run the naming activity. Each student was given time to write down their preferred name and had to present it to the class. Some were good, some silly, and some were just wrong – stupid Bakugo. I was surprised how many were in some form of English, though Twinkles may have taken it a bit too far. Maybe I would have a word with him after class.

I was torn. I had planned to go with the Juggler. But listening to some of the sillier names made me rethink that image. There was no direct translation for the English word Juggler. Some of the closest Japanese translations of the name came out as fraud, swindler, magician, or if transliterated, was confusable with Jaguar. None of these were what I wanted and the name I chose would be what I was known by in Japan. I could probably change it when I went back home. If I ever became a hero, I reminded myself. Checking some other possibilities and their Japanese translations, I finally settled on Rebound, which in Japanese used the same kanji as momentum, energy, impetus, and strength.

Worked for me.

We were given two days to finalize our decisions on our internships. I arranged to meet Todoroki and Midoriya in our usual café to talk about the issue.

"Ok…what's with you and Iida using your personal names as your hero names? That's like having the Mighty Bob or Matilda Girl come to save the day. Is it a Japanese thing?"

"I'm not familiar with those heroes," Todoroki said. I could never tell from his face if he was constantly maintaining a mask of assumed ennui or if he really had no sense of humor.

"There are lots of names you could choose that have no tie to your father. Believe me, I understand about not wanting to take my father's name. Your father's name doesn't even have anything to do with his power, so that leaves a lot of temperature or elemental related options for you. I don't know enough about Japanese idioms, but in English Celsius or Fahrenheit both fit. Inferno, which in the classic story had a frozen plain as the final level, makes for a great literary allusion. Elemental, which implies a certain implacability. Or Subzero if you just want to go cold."

"I'll consider it."

"I got an offer." We both turned to Midoriya. "It came in later in the day."

"Congratulations." Todoroki said. "Despite the fact that you need to learn to control your Quirk better, you are a skilled fighter and a quick thinker. You have great potential and a powerful drive to become a great hero. It is fitting someone should realize that."

"It's from the hero that trained All Might." Todoroki and I looked at each other but said nothing. We both knew Midoriya had a secret that somehow involved his relationship with our most famous teacher. But neither of us was willing to pry.

"Are you going to accept?" I asked.

"I think so."

"I got an offer too, but I am unfamiliar with the agency. Not that I know _any_ agencies," I added before they could bust my chops. Then I remembered I wasn't talking to my host sister. "I mean the name isn't even familiar."

"Who is it?" Todoroki asked.

"They're called the Tokyo All Stars."

"I know them!" Midoriya said, excited. "Air Jet is their leader. They're based in my neighborhood, just off the beach."

"I'm familiar with them as well. They have a number of worthy heroes under contract. I have an offer from them as well. I am somewhat confused as to why they would select you."

"T-T-Todoroki-kun…" Midoriya started to remonstrate our classmate.

"Don't worry about it, Deku. I agree with him. I did everything I could _not_ to stand out during the Festival. No one should have noticed me, much less given me an offer."

"Maybe they saw something in you that the others did not?" I thought Midoriya might be the poster boy for eternal optimism.

"Like dear old Dad's name?" I pointed to Todoroki. "You mentioned that you thought you got so many offers because of your dad. Do you think this could be the same thing for me?"

"And if it is?" He countered. "Is it not better to be on the inside where you might be able to exert some control while you learn something? I face the same decision. I will be working with my father."

"What?!" My exclamation caused faces around the cafe to turn to our table. I bowed my apologies to the other patrons.

"Just as I was sabotaging my future by refusing to let go of my past and use my fire, I would be sabotaging my future if I refused the tutelage of the number two hero in Japan, even if he is my hated father." Todoroki nodded to Midoriya. "You taught me to try my hardest." And to me, "And you taught me not to give my father the power to ruin my future like he did my past. You should do the same."

"Now tell us about the train attack." Midoriya got out his notebook.

A few days later all the first-year students were gathered at the station. We were in uniform, carrying our updated costumes in briefcases. I waved to Pony and she rushed over, which was quite the sight I will say. She hugged me. It felt good. I blushed.

"How are you doing, girl?" I was concerned. I had not seen her since we returned from the aborted Fuji trip.

"You're looking at Charger, the newest intern at Woman Jenny Hero Agency!" She squeed.

"Good for you. I know you'll do great."

"You too. If you give it a try, you might even like being a hero." And off she trotted.

Aizawa-sensei gave use his version of an inspiring speech. I think it left most of us only lightly scarred. I saw Deku giving Iida a pep talk. For some reason, I just could not warm to the Class Rep. But, I hoped he had a good week. While several of the student boarded trains for other parts of Japan, I went to the subway to get to the office of the Tokyo All Stars.

The office turned out to be a five story building with an ultra-modern, chrome and glass exterior. The All Stars logo was blazoned across the top. There was a receptionist just inside the glass doors. I set my costume case on the floor in front of her desk and pulled out my invitation letter.

"Hello, I'm Otis Hightower, from UA High School. I am here for my internship."

"Good morning, Hightower-san. If you'll have a seat, I'll let Air Jet know you are here." I sat at one of the waiting room chairs. There were several color brochures on the table for my reading pleasure. From them I saw that the All Stars were available to meet my business, home, and personal security and investigative needs. The agency's public service, rescue work, and crime fighting were all highlighted. They looked like shining knights mixed with benevolent saints, with a bit of James Bond and Sherlock Holmes thrown in. I would have been terribly impressed, except that I had seen nearly identical propaganda deifying the Armstrong Family at the Citadel. I wondered if they used the same PR group as my father.

I noticed a muscular young man in tight black pants and no shirt, only a kind of armored chest piece and arm guards come down the stairs and stop to talk to the receptionist. He had metal cheek pieces framing his face and short black hair. At a guess, he was a high school student, though I didn't recognize him. The receptionist pointed my way and he came over. I stood and almost offered my hand. Instead I bowed. He returned it, though less deeply.

"Hightower?" he asked. I wondered if he thought that was my code name. I had considered it, but I was too short for it to make any sense.

"Otis Hightower, UA Class 1-A. Hajimemashite." I bowed again. I still was not sure when it was required, but better to bow too much than not enough. I had no ego to protect.

"Shindo Yo, Ketsubutsu Academy, Class 2-J. Call me Tremor. Air Jet would like to meet you in his office. If you'll follow me." He turned and started back up the stairs.

"Are you an intern too?" I asked. I had not heard of Ketsubutsu Academy. I was aware that UA was not the only hero program in Japan. I just had no details on the others. Japan had approximately 125 million people. Around 100 million had powers or mutations of some sort. Like it was with most of the rest of the world's powered population, the vast majority of individual quirks were minor physical variations or very low-level powers. Only a small percentage had powers that were considered super class, which is powerful enough to be a hero or villain. Of the 1.4 million high school age students with quirks in Japan, likely under 300 were enrolled in hero courses nationwide.

"Yes. This is my second year at All Stars. They are very selective with the interns they accept, so you are very lucky." He motioned to a large steel door with Air Jet, CEO inscribed on it. "He's waiting for you."

"Thanks. I hope I'll see you around, senpai." Tremor nodded in return and walked away. I knocked on the door and waited.

"Enter!" came a voice from within. I pushed the heavy door. It was well counterweighted and moved on oiled hinges. I stepped onto deep pile carpet. There was another young attractive woman at a desk outside another door. She stood and bowed, then gestured me to the inner door. I bowed and walked through. This was the inner sanctum of a powerful man. At least that was the image that the designer tried to pile drive into my skull. Air Jet stood behind the desk as I entered. He was wearing his famous powersuit, with the helmet set on the desk. He reached out to offer me his hand. I accepted and carefully shook it.

"Welcome Otis." I was surprised he was speaking flawless English. "I'm pleased you decided to take us up on our offer. Please have a seat." I complied, setting my case next to the chair. "First thing's first. As this is a hero office, we all go by our code names and wear our costumes. If you see someone not in costume, or in one of our staff uniforms, chances are they are a client. You'll want to be extra polite to them, if they speak to you. Otherwise you probably shouldn't address them."

"Yes, sir," I agreed.

"I understand you already have a costume and selected a code name last week?"

"Yes, sir."

"And what name did you choose?"

"Rebound."

"I see ... Do you have your costume with you?"

"In my case, sir." I got the impression this guy liked being called sir.

"There is a restroom over there. Please change into it. Then I'll take you on a tour of the office. We'll go over what you hope to learn and what we'll expect from you as well. Just pack your uniform in the case. We'll leave it here while we tour."

"Yes, sir." The restroom was as posh as you would expect from the office décor. I quickly changed into my juggler outfit. I had tried to get some modifications made, but was told the support section was not redoing costumes until after the internships were over. So, a few minutes later I emerged in my full motley glory. I had two balls and a drone palmed, ready to show them off.

"What is that!?" Air Jet looked like I was wearing a bacon suit to a bar mitzvah. I was feeling more than a little embarrassed. I had designed the suit to mock my father, not fully realizing that I was the one that would be wearing it in public. I figured he should get the full effect so I started juggling.

"These balls can be used as weapons," I threw the two balls with one hand while holding out the drone. "And these can be used for stealthy reconnaissance."

"No, that won't do at all. You'll have to go down to the Workshop and have them make you a new costume, first thing. I can't have a fool associated with the All Stars." I tucked the balls back into their holders and snapped the drone back onto my fool's cap.

"Yes, sir."

"Change back into your school uniform and I'll have Tremor take you down." He pushed a button on his intercom as he turned his back on me, shaking his head in disgust.

 _That went well_ , I thought to myself as I changed. When I was back in the office, the older student was waiting for me. Air Jet was seated behind his desk, talking on the phone. He ignored us as we silently exited.

"Wow, you sure put a damper on his plans," the older boy smirked.

"What do you mean?" Tremor pulled me into a conference room next to the elevator. It was empty. He looked around, making sure no one could hear us and shut the door.

"The boss had planned to introduce you at a press conference this afternoon, as Kid Armstrong. I was copying the press release. Now he's postponing it. I'm not sure what you did but he's not going to be happy. It was going to be a big deal. But now …"

"Well that's just frikking great. Jumping Jiminy Cricket!"

"Shhhh…." He looked around the empty room as if he expected someone to spring out at us. "It's supposed to be a secret. I don't want to get in to trouble, but I thought you should know. Are you really Captain Armstrong's son?"

"Yeah. But I wanted it to be a secret."

"Air Jet certainly knows. But maybe you can keep it quiet this week. Just do what you can to avoid the press. He can't present you if you're not there. I'll tell you if I hear anything."

"Thanks. Let's get to the Workshop. Maybe I can come up with a costume he'll like even less." We took the elevator to a subbasement. Tremor handed me off to an older man and left.

"Excuse me, sir. I was sent here to build a new costume. Who should I talk to?" The man was at pretty old, with white hair and thick glasses. He was in a powered wheelchair that had a number of tools within easy reach. There was a touchscreen of some sort built into the chair. He seemed to use it to control the motion rather than a joystick.

"You need something from the Workshop, you talk to Tinker. That's me." He motioned for me to put my costume case on a workbench. As he approached the bench his chair lifted so he could easily work on the raised surface. "Let's see what you've got."

Just then a large man with spiked red and grey hair, a red costume, and a red cape came in to the room. "Sorry Tink, I need the kid. You," he pointed at me. "Come with me."

I followed the unknown hero to an office on the third floor. It was cluttered but not dirty. He threw himself into a heavy chair, which creaked in protest at the abuse. "Kid, my name is Crimson Riot. I've been heroing twice as long as you've been alive. And for my many sins, I just got assigned to be your mentor. There are some things you need to know. One, I hate paperwork, so you just got assigned to do all of mine. Two, I am old and tired and I don't go out patrolling much, so you'll have plenty of time to do my paperwork. And three, when I'm not here I'm going to inflict you on Tinker. He can always use someone to sweep the Workshop floors or something. And I owe him, so you're his when I'm gone. Any questions. I didn't think so. Now let me show you the copier. I'll explain the damn filing system as we go."

This is being a hero?


	17. Episode 17

"Hey, Otis. How are those eyes-in-the-sky upgrades coming along?" Tinker yelled as soon as he rolled into the Workshop. He had a plastic bag with the logo of the corner noodle shop. I could already smell my curry udon as he unloaded the containers onto the work bench.

"I think I finally got the feeds from the different cameras to synchronize. That should give a 360 degree image, if you can get the software to stich them correctly." I set the All Star MiniDrone ™ I had been working down on a side table and grabbed my cup of deliciousness and a pair of chopsticks. "How's the suit coming?"

"Bah! Did you see the design that Barney sent down?" Barney Yamada was the current Air Jet's real name. Tinker was the original Air Jet from the 1970's. When he retired in 1987 he passed the battle suit to Kinugasa Tomoaki. 'Tomo' wore the suit until 2008, when Barney took over. Tinker still made periodic upgrades to the suit. So its tech was not only customized for the wearer's own powers, it was as bleeding edge as possible. "I've seen fewer stars and stripes at an American parade."

Air Jet had sent down a design that was a cross between the Original Armstrong, All Might, and an American flag. Garish was the best I could say about it, and that just because I liked my job. And pushy boss aside, I was surprised to find I really did like working at the agency.

Tinker was great. I had a new role model who encouraged me to get into trouble in his fully-equipped super-tech lab. Geek heaven! And Crimson Riot? For some reason he was expecting any son of Captain Strongarm, as he called my paternal unit, to be … well … almost exactly like my brother and sister actually were. He turned out to be surprisingly cool once I convinced him I was not my brother. He still made me do his paper work, but mostly that was filling out blank timecards from his non-existent patrols. Took about ten minutes to catch up with his three month back log. Copy and paste is your friend.

"But if you remove the cape, change the colors to dark green and rust, close up the open chest super v-neck, and get rid of all the armor plating it is not a bad design. Just need to add my bandoleers and the reticle mask." I said, showing him my revised design. He looked it over and started clucking.

"Are you sure about losing the armor. Even bricks can use extra protection. And you're such a skinny punk. A little steel plating to bulk you up. Adds to the intimidation factor too."

"You forget, I don't want anything between me and incoming impacts. I need to touch things to absorb their energy. Same reason I can't have gloves. I need the touch."

"What about boots?"

"Build them with an impact transmitting material that still adds to my traction for acrobatics."

"Could make armor plates out of the same substance."

"Sort of defeats the purpose of them being armor then."

"Not if the plate are insulated against electricity, heat, cold, and other energy types you can't absorb. Neh?" He quickly copied and revised my design sketch. After a moment he had a product that looked professional, yet had a certain something that just cried out hardcore.

"Ok…you win. That look's great. Far better than anything I could do. I bow to the master." And I did. He just waved me away and started transferring the design in to the fabricator. I silently ate my yummy noodles and watched the master at work.

Later I was in the gym with Crimson Riot. "Regular, even constant, training is an essential part of every pro hero's existence. Most agencies of any size have a gym or a dojo. Some are built around that centerpiece." He punched a heavy bag, rocking it on its chain. Despite your strength you need a lot more work on your basic combat skills." He spun, kicking my feet out from under me, then grabbed me as I fell and tossed me across the room. I landed on a pile of futons with a dull thud. "And you're dead."

"But …"

"Come on, kid. Let me show you how the big boys play." My mentor proceeded to toss me around the room for an hour, waiting for me to learn enough to fight back. I remembered what my shrink had said about me subconsciously limiting my speed so as to avoid hurting people in combat. I knew there was not much chance of me hurting Crimson Riot. He was near the top of the lists in terms of strength, speed, and fighting skills. He may have slowed down some in his dotage, but her was still too much for me. I finally stopped holding back.

"Good!" Crimson Riot said as I almost tagged him with a jab. We had been sparing for twenty minutes. "Someone has trained you in basic punching at least, if nothing else. Now I want you to play tag with this drone. It is something Tinker cobbled together a few weeks ago." A humanoid robot with no effort made to make it appear human clanked into the room. My mentor punched something into the input panel and the drone shifted into a combat stance. My boss stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him.

The drone was slow. It attacked and dodged my attacks, but I was able to tag it with some regularity. It was also tough enough to be able to soak my blows. It seemed to adapt to my action as it was getting harder to hit over time. But I was adapting to it as well. I was having fun. I felt comfortable because there was not chance I was going to hurt anyone. I think I always held back in sparing, and I know I held back in real combat. That first fight with Brownstone had left me with a lasting fear of my own strength.

The sparring with the drone finally ended. I had really lost track of everything during the session. I had no idea how long I had been at it. The thing had continually gotten harder and harder to fight, but somehow, I had managed to keep up until the end when I just couldn't hit the thing. When Crimson Riot and Tinker came in, my boss threw me a towel and Thinker checked the drone.

"The thing has some pretty cool adaptive heuristics," I said. It kept getting better and seemed to drag me along with it."

"Nope," Tinker said. "It was programmed to find the skill level needed to allow you to hit it with some regularity."

"It started that way, then it got better," I insisted.

"Not better," Crimson Riot disagreed. "Faster. The thing was slowly but steadily increasing the tempo of the fight. So slowly you didn't notice. At the end you were actually moving at a pretty good pace, you just didn't realize it."

"But, I'm slower than molasses. You said so yourself."

"You are limiting your speed. This is proof that against a non-human opponent your subconscious allowed you to up the speed. Now sit down. I want to explain to you the relationship between strength and speed for real bricks. You may not be the fastest guy out there but there are things you can do to get faster. And strategies for dealing with those who are too fast for you to hit."

I smiled and got ready to work.

That evening I asked Kyoka-chan how her internship was going. She was working with Desutegoro, the hero we had seen my second day in Japan.

"It's great working so close to home," she said, "though he's so serious about physical fitness. I get exhausted jogging all over the district."

"Nah, I'm guessing you really like your neighbors and the kids who picked on you in middle school all seeing you out there in costume with the big pro hero."

She smiled, flicked a guitar pick at me, and started playing a chipper tune. I followed along on the piano. It turned into quite the jam session when her parents joined in. Nights like that make me think the program people may have known what they were doing when they placed me.

"Rebound! Get your kit on and meet me on the roof." It was the third day of my internship.

Tinker worked late the previous night, but had managed to get my new costume completed. It was great, I transferred all my balls and drones into their slots in the wrist, belt, and chest holders. Testing, I found they were easier to reach and there was room for more of them. Tinker had upgraded my drones and given me three more. I jumped and stretched, even juggled a bit, and the suit didn't bind or pinch anywhere. It looked great too. Somehow it hinted at my uncle's Ricochet costume without being an obvious copy. And it managed to look nothing like the various Armstrong Family outfits. There was even the kanji for sei/hazu, which was the heart of my name in Japanese but which also stood for energy and strength, embossed on the shoulder plates.

I dressed and met my mentor. It was late afternoon, but the sun was still high in the early summer sky. Tokyo was miserably hot and humid. Mushi-atsui, the weather was so common the Japanese had a single, almost onomatopoetic word for it. Still not sure what the new suit was made of, but it managed to let the light breezed through to cool my skin. The armor pieces even seemed to have some sort of cooling function. Crimson Riot was looking over the city. I waited but he said nothing. After a few minutes I prompted him, "Sir? What are we doing?"

"We're going on patrol."

"Patrol?"

"Yeah. Patrol. I'm sure you've heard of it. Barney reminded me that your contract requires at least ten hours of supervised patrolling during the week."

"But …"

"…And since we didn't patrol for the last three days, we have a lot to make up. So you better be ready for some overtime." With no warning he leapt to a neighboring roof and started running. Startled, I did not move after him until he had jumped to the roof of a taller building almost a block away. I smiled and leaped.

We moved across the roofs for almost an hour. The old man seemed tireless, and while he couldn't leap as far as I could, he ran faster. And he never waited for me. Occasionally we would stop as he pointed out particular buildings or businesses below us.

"You know that pro heroes get money from the government in return for answering police and emergency calls for help, either subduing a criminal or rescuing people. After each police or emergency call we submit our invoice and they pay us an adjudicated amount based on the danger, difficulty, and other factors." He seldom looked directly at me when he spoke to me. I wasn't sure if it was because he was always scanning for danger, he didn't like the way I looked in my new costume, or he just preferred to present his striking profile. But I had my suspicions.

"Mercenaries…" I muttered, thinking he wouldn't hear me.

"In a way. I prefer contractors. We are not under direct government control, though they do regulate us out the yin-yang. For small time heroes and agencies government payments are the majority of their income. For bigger players there are two other common ways to pay the bills. First is outside contracting – private security work for businesses and individuals. This can be bodyguards, investigations, or just regular patrolling in the area of their properties. That's the way the All Stars can afford Tinker's toys and the support structure we have in place.' He pointed, "That bank and that jewelry store are two of our clients."

He then pointed to a billboard with Midnight holding some sort of perfume. She looked good. "The other main source of hero income is from endorsements and marketing. That is how All Might and Endeavor make most of their dosh. Toys, t-shirts, and lunch boxes to whisky ads and car commercials – different heroes market different things. And you can make good money that way. Your family certainly does."

"But why should the money matter? Real heroes would help people for free."

"Some do. Vigilantes, amateurs, even those that just can't be bothered with the paperwork. But Quirks are regulated. And hero licenses are the way that the government maintains some sort of control without turning into a quirktocracy. While many people with Quirks are in the government, licensed heroes cannot hold office or any official government position. Those laws have worked for three generations, since the 1960's. What were they in response to?"

"The Interregnum." That was the common name in Japan for the period after World War II when the first powered people started appearing worldwide. A supervillain, possibly the most powerful one in Japanese history, managed to take covert control of the county by supplanting the legitimate government with powered pawns. It took several years before the shadowy figure was defeated. It is rumored he is still around, lurking behind many of the worst atrocities executed by villains over the years.

"Exactly. After that no one wanted Quirks in control. But the reality was that larger and larger portions of the population were powered. The current laws were what evolved from those first days after the Restoration. You have similar laws in the US."

"We do, but that still doesn't explain the money."

"Carrot and the stick, I think you say in English. The government uses threats of fines and incarceration to dissuade bad behavior. They use licenses and payments to reward beneficial behavior. That's part of it at least. But, kid, what have you got against money?"

"What do you mean? I just think helping people is more important than money."

"It is. But without money, how're you going to eat? Who is going to pay for your toys?" He pointed to my bandoleer and drones. "Who is going to pay for our support people - the medics, and lawyers, and investigators, and coordinators, and …everyone that makes heroing something more than a guy in his pajamas wandering aimlessly hoping to find someone in danger? Been there, done that. Not going back."

"But …"

"Think about it, kid. I'm not saying there ain't guys in costumes that care more about the money or fame or whatever than the people they help. But they're wrong. And I won't have anything to do with training someone to be that kind of hero."

His tone changed, becoming more somber. "I lost someone on an early mission. Someone I could have, should have, saved. That made it my fault. I've never let that happen again. The safety of innocent people will always be my top priority. It should be that way for every hero. If it's not the most important thing for you, kid then you're wasting your time. And mine."

"But what if you can't save them all? You know about the train attack near Fuji?"

"Yeah. More than you, probably. I've read the full report. Wanted to know more about you when I heard you were coming to the office. You did pretty good, at least with the train part. You coulda done better with the morons that blew the track."

"But so many people got hurt."

"And no one died. Now that was almost as much by luck as your actions. And the quick medical help Ectoplasm brought probably saved a lot of lives." He finally looked at me. He laid a hand on my shoulder and squeezed hard.

"I am not saying there might not have been something you could have done that would have prevented more injuries. But you did as well as you knew how. That's why you keep training, keep getting better. So the next time you save more people. You use this experience, every experience, every win or loss … all the pain and the guilt - everything … to get better. You hear me, kid?"

"I … yeah, I hear you. Now I just have to figure out how."

He laughed. "You're a first-year student. You'll have lots of time to get better. And lots of people to tell you how."

"Was there anything in the report about the Bashers or whatever they called themselves? Why were they after me?"

"They were hired Quirks from Australia. They were just supposed to identify you, but decided to upgrade the job to kidnapping and train robbery. All they could say about their client is that he was another Australian. Ring any bells?"

I thought about it for a minute while he scanned the street. "Mom's archfoe is a madwoman crime boss called Arachne. She has a few lieutenants, one of whom, Forte, is from Australia or New Zealand. Can't remember which. Could be them?"

"Could be. Confirming that you're out from under her protection could be of interest to your parent's foes."

We continued patrolling as the sun slowly set. Lights came on below us and we had to be more careful in the shadows and gloom. It was full dark when Crimson Riot stopped me and put his hand to his head. I knew he wore a comm button in his ear. Interns were not provided with all the toys. "You're kidding. Shit. Yeah, we're on our way. Track my comm and pick us up if you can." Then he turned to me.

"Time to pour on the speed. Barney just got an auto distress call from Native. He's somewhere in Hosu City and his bio-sensors say he's hurt bad. We need to get there now."


	18. Episode 18

Hosu City was four districts away. We moved fast. With his permission I grabbed Crimson Riot and leaped as far as I could. He directed me. Each leap was almost a half mile. I was careful to absorb all of the impact so as not to damage the building on each landing and leap.

"Still no word from Native. But we're getting close to his location." The old man grumbled, checking his smartphone's All Star App™. Without warning an explosion sent a ball of flame high into the air less than a mile away. "Shit!"

"That way!" He pointed towards the explosion.

"But what about Native?"

"Innocents before heroes. He knows that. We all know that. Go there. And hurry!" I bounced us closer to the disturbance. In the streets below were could see people running from the town center. The noise of car horns and panicked voices grew as we approached the epicenter of the chaos. I heard a second explosion, smaller, but it still sent a shockwave that rocked the remaining widows of the buildings in the area.

We landed on a building overlooking the town center. This was an area that in better days had held a plaza with trees, sculpture, and a fountain. The plaza was at least one square block. The buildings that bounded the center were mostly large commercial establishment – two banks, a hotel, a department stores, and a few others I didn't recognize. It would have been home to crowds of pedestrians and vehicles, even at this hour. Now it was a raging inferno of burning cars, collapsed facades, and injured people. In the middle of the chaos were two creatures with exposed brains battling a dozen or more costumed heroes.

"Nomus?" I cursed. There was a giant one that looked similar to the Nomu at USJ. The other was smaller, with grey skin, a gas mask, and wings that let it fly. "This is bad."

"You've seen them before?" Crimson Riot demanded

"One almost killed All Might in the USJ a few weeks ago. Two could easily destroy the city." My mentor nodded silently and gave the battle a critical onceover. I noticed a red car fly thorough the air, landing on a winged hero who was prostrate on the ground. Someone had torn open a water hydrant and a helmeted hero was directing the stream at one of the fires. I saw a green-haired guy in a green suit that might be Midoriya, but I lost him a moment later.

"Get down there and help clear out the civilians. Once they're out of the area, look for folks trapped under debris, but be very careful moving it. If you have to, just set these markers near them and move on." He handed me a bag with emergency beacons. I had seen them in hero basics and knew how to activate them. "Stay out of the fight. Let the pros deal with the villains. Got it?"

"Got it." I leaped over the railing and dropped the seven stories to the pavement below. I landed softly, absorbing the impact and storing the kinetic energy temporarily. I couldn't hold it long, but thought it might come in handy. I quickly dropped all my bots with instructions to search and locate any trapped people. They had enough programming to do that independently. If they weren't crushed in the battle, they would make their way through the rubble looking for life signs and would signal me when they found anything. I looked around. The smoke and dust made it hard to breathe and the flames raised the ambient temperature to near-blistering levels. _Maybe I'm not as invulnerable as I thought_ , fleetingly crossed my mind.

Hearing a cry, I rushed over to a trio of office workers huddled in a doorway. Looking for the safest route out of the area I saw pedestrian alley, with small shops and clubs lining one side, leading away from the danger zone. "This way! We have to get you out of here. This way!" I was yelling to be heard over the sounds of combat and waving my arms towards the alley. I actually had to grab one man's arm and start to drag him in the direction I wanted him to run before they started moving. I motioned them to run ahead of me, which proved to be a good thing.

The flying Nomu swooped by and grabbed a burning car off the road. He lifted it into the air and lobbed it at the three runners. I bounced up and managed to catch the car, draining it of momentum so it did not send me smashing in the civilians. Instead I dropped straight back to the street, car in hand. I was tempted to throw the vehicle at the flyer, but couldn't risk missing and hitting someone or something else. I set it down and moved to the next group, several people trying to hide beside to a delivery van.

I ran to them and shouted, "I'll get the van rolling, stay next to it. We'll move to that alley." I pointed to our destination half a block away. They looked at me nervously. I jumped into the truck and put it in neutral. I got out on the driver's side and pushed it towards the alley. I could see the people on the other side using it as a shield between them and the destruction in the plaza. Another explosion rocked the area sending debris rattling against the side of the truck. A few seconds later and I had the van in position next to the alley entrance.

I saw a couple of other young costumed people, sidekicks or interns I assumed, moving other people away from the fight. Most of those that were mobile were already on their way out. I started looking for wounded people. I dropped my reticle over my left eye and called up the feed from a flying bot. I used it to quickly search for a medical station in the surrounding area. Standard procedure in a large scale disturbance, we had been told in class, was that the authorities would have ambulances and a triage center set up at the perimeter of danger zone. As this situation was still fluid, they may be moving the med station to keep it safe. It took a few seconds, but I found the flashing lights and red cross. I could see armored police guarding it.

I then cycled through the feeds of my other bots. One had found someone trapped under a slab of concrete. I bounced over to the site. From the video I could see a young man with his ankle caught between the slab which had fallen from a building, and a metal stanchion. The other end of the slab was balanced just above his head on another piece of debris. I had to be careful. I could see that if I moved the slab the wrong way, he could lose his foot or his head. If the slab crumbled while I moved it, the pieces would crush him. But I couldn't just leave him. If anything else hit the slab, it would be knocked off its precarious support anyway. "Don't worry. I'm going to get you out of there." I put both hands flat on the surface of the slab, above where his head and legs were. If I could get a grip I'd be able to lift it. Instead, I had to push all the kinetic energy I had absorbed and stored from my bounces and from catching the car into the slab evenly, giving it the momentum to fly up in one piece. Once it was a few inches up I booted it aside, clearing the trapped man. The slab slammed onto the street and crumbled. It was not telekinesis, but it would do in a pinch.

I found a couple of kids trapped in a mini-van. The doors were jammed and they were too small to break the windows. I pulled the side door off the van and bounced to two girls to the aid station. I bounced to the top of a marquee overlooking the battle and cycled through my bots. There were only two of them left. One showed me an unconscious person lying under a fallen tree. I bounced over.

I caught site of Crimson Riot leading a makeshift team of heroes in a coordinated attack on the giant Nomu. Just as I pulled the older woman out from under the tree and started to leap towards the ambulances, thunder crashed from behind me, sending out a choking cloud of dust riding a massive shockwave. I, and the woman I was carrying, were tossed blindly through the air. I curled around my burden to protect her as well as I could just before we slammed into a wall. I absorbed the impact to avoid compressing my passenger. Dropping to the pavement, I bounced us up as high I as could, trying to clear the cloud of dust.

We landed on a balcony three or four floors up. I set the woman down behind the low cinder block wall, thinking it might offer some protection if there was another blast. And there was. I looked down. Endeavor had arrived and had just knocked the giant Nomu back a dozen yards. The shockwave from this blow had fanned some flames blown out by the earlier shockwave back to burning. The giant was obviously wounded by the blow. Though just as obviously he was regenerating the damage more quickly than I can tell it.

Crimson Riot dropped behind the giant and kicked him in the spine, sending him tumbling back towards the flaming hero. Endeavor caught the Nomu by the head and sent a powerful jet of flame to engulf the giant's cranium. The flame jet burned hotter, changing from red to blue-white. I watched in awe. Then the other Nomu plucked me off the balcony by my waist.

I was dangling beneath the creature as it flew over the battle. I tried to break free, but couldn't get any leverage. I pried at its claws with my fingers, but its grip was far stronger than steel.

"Kid!" I heard Crimson Riot below me. I watched as he and Endeavor chased my captor away from the plaza. My mentor was riding a line up to a nearby roof. The flaming hero was running up the side of the building, leaving melted footprints in his wake. At the top of the wall Endeavor leapt, arcing towards my captor. A spear made of fire appeared in his hand and the number two hero threw it with deadly accuracy. It impaled the flying Nomu in one of its four eyes. The monster dropped me.

Endeavor used his flames to maneuver in the air to catch me.

"Let me fall," I cried.

"I've got you!" he proclaimed. Just before he reached me, Crimson Riot sideswiped me, driving me into the side of a building.

Endeavor landed and yelled, "What are you doing, idiot? Go after the villain."

My mentor grabbed my bandoleers, and threw me into the flaming guy. Endeavor dodged easily and moved towards Crimson Riot. Flames licked at his hands as the elemental said, "Stand down old man."

Crimson Riot faked to the left and managed to get a grip on Endeavor's arm. This was enough for the All Star to throw his opponent onto a nearby roof. Then he turned to me.

"Boss, what are you doing? I'm not the bad guy." I could see he wasn't moving very well as he advanced on me.

I tossed a few stun balls at him, hoping to at least distract him. He batted them out of the way almost quicker than I could see.

He lunged at me. But the move was slow. I bounced out of the way. He spun, anticipating my trajectory, and slammed his fist into my belly. I rode the knockback to try to get away. I ended up crashing through the window of a clothing store.

As I tried to crawl out of the display, glass shards and broken mirrors scattered around me, a wave of fiery pain washed over me.

Endeavor was blasting me with hellfire. I could feel my skin peeling as I rolled out of the barrage. I rounded a corner, out of sight of my attackers.

 _What the kale was going on? Why were these heroes attacking me?_ I glanced around the corner. I saw both heroes stalking towards me. In the reflection from one of the mirrors in the store I also caught a glimpse of a woman standing behind them.

She was dressed in a voluminous black overcoat and a flashy, barely-there costume underneath. Her mask and makeup were all designed to highlight her glowing eyes. I remembered who she was – Mesmer, one of Arachne's lieutenants. She was a mind controller, like that kid in the sports festival.

 _She must be controlling them._ Watching her in the reflection I saw the angles in my head and bounced two stunners at her, banking them off the wall of the shop. Before I could see if they hit, I got tagged by a flaming fist from the mind controlled Endeavor. It burned as it sent me deeper into the store. Strangely, I wasn't able to absorb any of the blow. _Frikking kale! I'm pretty sure I can withstand Crimson Riot's attacks. But Endeavor's fire can hurt me. I'm going to have to take him down to get to Mesmer._

With that goal in mind, I took out my steel balls and leapt out into the street. I launch all three balls in a spread certain to take down the big guy. I hit him square in the chest, following up with a punch to the chin. It turns out the steel melted before it got to him. And he caught my fist, twisted me into a pretzel, and spat fire into my face. Suddenly I couldn't breathe. Before I could fight back, I was out like a light.

"Wake up!" between the dulcet tones of my mentor, and the bucket of water he tossed in my face, I found myself suddenly conscious. I was lying on the concrete. Mesmer was bundled against a lamppost with capture tape and a bag over her head. Endeavor was nowhere to be seen.

"What happened?" I inquired with great originality.

"You used metal against fire. You lead with your right." He was ticking points off on his fingers. "And you got your oxygen sucked out of your system with a cold flame jet to the lungs. We'll go over those in some detail later. On the plus side, you managed to take out the mind witch with a decent bank shot, and you avoided looking into her eyes. Smart kid. You know her?"

"Mesmer. She's one of Arachne's people. She must have been after me?"

"She was. Or at least that was the orders she gave Todoroki and me. Take you down, alive."

 _Todoroki_? I thought, looking for my two-toned classmate. Then I remembered his father probably had the same last name.

"Where is he?"

"Went after the flyer that got away. You up for some more fun?"

"Sure?"

"Then let's go after them. Can't let that thing do more damage." I nodded and got up. I patted myself down. I still had a few stun balls on my belt. The rest were who knows where. Crimson Riot started running. I followed with a bounce.

We found Endeavor standing with a bunch of costumed people, most of whom had come from the main battle. "Things got a little rough," He was saying to someone.

I recognized two classmates, Iida and Todoroki, along with Native, the All Star we had started out to find. Those three were wounded and bleeding. A little ways further there was an unkempt wounded man, apparently frozen in misstep, the flyer lying still on the pavement, and a bleeding Midoriya. Crimson Riot and I stopped to take in the scene.

"Hey, hey! What's going on?" I froze. I recognized the voice. It was an ocean out of place, and I had hoped not to hear it for another ten months or more. Slowly I turned, knowing what I would see, yet dreading it all the same. There is was, standing next to Air Jet, bigger than life and twice as annoying – Captain Armstrong…my dad.


	19. Episode 19

"Does someone want to tell me what my son is doing in the middle of a frikking war zone?!" Captain Armstrong bellowed, his hand reaching out to pull me into a hug. I tried to convince myself it didn't feel a little like safety and home.

All eyes turned to me. _So much for the secret identity_ , I thought. _I_ stunk _at it anyway._ "Um … It's my first-term work experience. Like a short internship," I replied in English as I pushed free of his embrace. "Things just got a little … exciting. I'm fine."

"Exciting, my red, white, and blue behind! This is a major disaster." Dad stated hotly. He turned to Air Jet. "I thought you were going to take care of my kid, AJ?"

"Calm yourself Captain." He subtly gestured to a news copter circling above the buildings. "You have an image to maintain."

"We'll talk later." He speared my boss with a glare that said more than a week of talk radio. Then he turned back to me. "Otis, are you sure you're alright. You look a little singed around the edges." He ran a finger over a bit a char on my costume that had come either from the burning car I had caught, or an attack from the walking fire hazard.

"Your son did well Armstrong," Endeavor said quietly to Dad. Not quietly enough that everyone there could not hear though. "For his age, at least."

The police arrived, followed shortly by the press, cutting off the discussion. It turned out the unkempt man was the notorious hero killer, Stain. A very tall Labrador-headed man in a trench coat took over the police investigation. He had everyone separated before they were questioned. Dad and Crimson Riot accompanied me for the questioning. Not unexpectedly Kocho-sensei and Aizawa-sensei showed up soon thereafter. With four Class1-A students involved while on an official school activity, they were bound to.

"Should we have a lawyer?" Dad asked me quietly. He was looking around uncertainly. I had no idea how much time he had spent in Japan, but I don't think he was very comfortable. I knew he didn't speak the language.

"Don't think so."

"OK … so other than this, how have you been enjoying the exchange?" He seemed genuinely interested.

"It's been …" I thought back to the shunning after first combat exercise … the _matsuri_ with Pony and Nee-chan … the USJ battle … jamming with the Jiros … getting my rear handed to me by everyone in the first hand-to-hand class … training with Momo-chan … the sports festival … my coffee conversations with Midoriya and Todoroki … the attack on the train … my discoveries with Dr. Shuzenji. I couldn't determine how I felt. "…a lot more than I expected."

"Do you want to stay? It's still summer back home. You could start school at the end of the summer if you wanted."

"Which school?" I snapped almost automatically? My quarrel with Dad had become reflexive at this point I and I fell back into it without thinking.

"Hero High, of course." He asserted just as reflexively. "I mean …" he hesitated then said more calmly, "Heroing looks good on you." He gestured to my costume. "Not the colors I would have chosen, but still good."

"Thanks," I said and was surprised to find I was not being sarcastic. I was pretty proud of the suit, and of my actions while wearing it tonight. I may have been taken down by the number two hero, but I saved some people and captured a real villain.

Dad stayed with me, and was uncharacteristically quiet, while I gave my statement to the police detective. As the only time I had anything to do with the villains was catching the burning car thrown by the flyer, getting caught by the flyer, and taking down Mesmer, most of what I reported on was my getting the civilians out of harm's way. I made sure to give Tinker the credit for upgrading my little robots to make them more independent and provide me with scenarios and behaviors for their expanded programming. Dad did roll his eyes when I started talking about my tech.

Aizawa-sensei and Crimson Riot both confirmed that I was taking part in an official educational experience under the direct supervision of a licensed hero as part of the UA curriculum. I looked around for the other students, wondering if they had to get the same certification. I knew Todoroki was working with his dad. I had no idea who the other two were working with. Midoriya had mentioned a name, but it meant nothing to me so I forgot it. Iida, I had never known.

Some interminable time later, made more so by the presence of my dad, the police released us. "And you thought heroing was all glamor and fisticuffs. I never told you how much time your mother and I spend in police stations, lawyer's offices, and courtrooms." Dad held the door for me and motioned me out of the building.

There was a horde of reporters and cameras awaiting us. Air Jet was already headed for the podium that had been set up. I baulked as Dad put his hand on my shoulder to guide me towards the spotlight. "Please Dad. I'm just a student here. I really don't want any press. It's really important to me. If I'm going to stay here this year, I cannot be seen as a glory hog. There were at least three other kids from my class there tonight. And they all got hurt. If I'm on the news and they're not, everyone will hate me. Please!"

He looked at me for a minute, with Air Jet motioning for us to come over. Then he patted my shoulder and stepped around me to go to the podium. I skulked off into the shadows where Crimson Riot was waiting. He nodded, but said nothing.

I stayed with Dad at his hotel that night. He came to the Jiros with Air Jet. I made the introductions and Air Jet explained that my dad would only be in town a few days and wanted me to stay with him if at all possible; The Jiros agreed. So, I packed my work stuff and headed to the Keio Plaza. It was actually pretty nice. Not the hotel, that was pretty fancy. But staying with Dad. I was so tired when we got in the first night. He just tucked me into the bed and sat quietly watching me.

The next morning, he came into the office with me. I had either never known or had forgotten that Dad was one of the founders of the original All Stars in the US. The Tokyo office was the Japanese subsidiary of what was now an international group of affiliated hero teams/agencies. He had used one of their permanent portals to come to Japan from New York. Air Jet and I, separately, showed him around the place. I introduced him to Tinker and Crimson Riot, whom it turned out he already knew. He even watched as my mentor gave me a hand-to-hand work out. I could see Dad wanted to interrupt, maybe even take over, but he was quiet the whole time.

Tremor was shadowing us as I took Dad around the building. I assumed he wanted an introduction. I'd had no other interaction with the older student after the first day. But he had done me a favor so I figured I owed him. "Dad, this is Tremor. He's a student like me, but at a different school. Tremor, this is my dad, Captain Armstrong."

The nervous student bowed while Dad offered his hand. Then Tremor offered his hand while Dad bowed. It was like a comedy act and I wondered how long I could keep them going. After only one cycle, Dad stopped and said, "Nice to meet you. How are you liking your internship with the All Stars?"

"I-it is an h-honor sir," Tremor stammered, though that my just be his discomfort with speaking English. Despite years of study I found that a lot of Japanese were still uncomfortable speaking the language.

"Well, keep up the good work," Dad said. "And keep an eye on Otis here. He needs all the help he can get." I wilted. I don't know if Dad was just trying to be funny but … Jiminy.

"Yes, sir!"

After the visit to the All Stars, Dad and I went to UA where he made a speech to the upper years and other classes that were not doing the one-week internships. I thought it odd, but as Nee-chan later explained it to me, "If one of the top ten heroes in the world is willing to talk to the students, the school will do everything they can to make it happen."

I, back in my UA uniform, ended up introducing him. Dad gave a pretty basic speech. Afterwards he told me he had to reuse a generic speech he had given before as he had not planned to talk. All Might managed the follow-up Q&A session. Seeing them both on stage made me realize again how similar the two were. I was both oddly proud and terribly embarrassed by the whole event.

Later that evening Dad and I had a serious discussion. I started it out of the blue as we ate at the Hard Rock Café. Dad was a lot more comfortable eating burgers than _kaiseki_ , so we dodged the formal meal Air Jet tried to host.

"Dad, why don't we do charity stuff?"

"What do you mean?"

"I remember a lady once tried to get you and Pappy to do hero work for charity cases. She said it would only be one or twice a month and that other agencies were doing it. You said we couldn't afford to work for free."

"When was this?" He looked confused.

"A long time ago, Maybe ten years?" I wasn't sure of the date.

"Hmm … I'm not sure what lady you're talking about. We do a lot of charity stuff. Almost half our profits go into the Tomorrow Foundation which, among other charitable work, offers grants and low interest loans for the rebuilding and recovery of houses and businesses damaged in super attacks where the owners can't afford to pay for it themselves or have no insurance. We also do a fair bit of pro bono hero work through the HeroCORPS."

"But I heard you say, ' _I don't care how many lives it might save, we cannot afford to work for free!'"_

"Was this maybe summer of 2006?"

I thought about it. "Probably around then."

"You might be talking about Mavis Francesco. She ran a high profile pseudo-charity that some agencies ended up donating hundreds of free hours for events that were more about publicity and fundraising that helping people in need. She used to be on Oprah a lot. Did she say … 'Think of the Children!'?"

"I think so?"

"Yeah, sounds like Mavis. My mom was always a fan of hers, but Pappy and I thought it was better to work directly with people in need, rather than through a costly intermediary organization like hers." He chewed while thinking back.

I was wondering how I didn't know any of this. How could I not know everything my parents were doing? Finally Dad interrupted my thoughts, "What made you think about that?"

I almost told him, but couldn't. "Just a random thought."

He got called back to New York while I was sleeping that night.


	20. Episode 20

"I am so confused!" I got off the couch and started pacing.

"About what specifically?" Dr. Shuzenji queried.

"Why don't I want to be a hero? Where did that decision come from?"

"What do you mean?"

"I just found out that at least some of what I think I know about my family is wrong. And with that museum memory …"

"What about it? Why do think that memory is so important?"

I sat back down and faced the shrink. "I think it likely had a huge impact on me growing up. But because I didn't consciously remember the event and its aftermath, I don't know what that impact might have been."

"You think it might have influenced your decision not to want to be a hero."

"I just don't know how much of my decision is consciously thought out and how much is because of the guilt and fear from that event."

"How does this guilt make you feel?"

"Every time I think about what happened back then … what I did … I feel like never using my powers again."

"But you use your powers almost every day?"

I started tugging at my hair. "Because I have no choice with my strength. But I'm not using all my power. And I'm not using them in the best ways I could."

"How do you mean?"

"All Might said something about how I might be associating speed with strength and how I could be unconsciously trying to limit my strength by limiting my speed. I think he's right."

"Why? What makes you think that?"

I was up pacing again. "Twice in the past few months I've moved much faster than I thought I could. Much faster than I did in any of the training simulations or situations. Both times were to save people in real danger. I moved to block Nomu when he was attacking Bakugo. And I moved with what had to be super speed when the train was going off the rails."

"Are you sure that wasn't just an adrenalin reaction? Ordinary people can find themselves performing extraordinary feats in life or death situations."

"I don't think so. My internship mentors put me through a speed test against a robot last week. Essentially, they tricked me by slowly ratcheting up the speed until, without consciously realizing it, I was moving much faster than I had shown I could before." I was leaning against the office window. Outside it was beginning to rain.

"What do you think is triggering this phenomenon?"

"I am slowing myself down. It has to be psychological rather than physiological. This makes me wonder what other unconscious psychological effects or limitations I am working under." I moved back to the couch. I saw that our hour was almost up.

"Such as?"

"What if I am also unconsciously prejudicing myself against heroes and being a hero? I also wonder if my memory of the robots saving the day at the museum started my obsession with robots and my desire to build them to help people. Instead of being a hero to help people. I just don't know."

"What about what happened last week?"

"Do you realized I have saved a lot of people in the last few months? Bakugo. The people on the train. And at least three people last week. There was a point where one of the Nomu had thrown a car at a group of people I was trying to get out of the area. If I hadn't caught the car, it's certain that at least one of them would have died. Maybe all three. And I did that as a hero." Just then a bell sounded.

"I'm sorry Otis. Our time is up for the week. I think you're making a lot of progress. I want you to continue to explore this avenue of thought. What if your bias against heroes is a product of your childhood trauma? What does that mean for you now, and for your future? Ultimately, like all of us, you have to decide what you want."

Going back to UA after the battle and the televised revelation of my true identity – the news copter had a shotgun mike on my dad when he announced I was his son – was difficult. My outing was only a small side note to Endeavor's capture of Stain. I did wonder when he had time to fight the hero killer. I thought I had only been unconscious for a few minutes tops. But that was what the news said.

On the train in to school the first morning back I was attracting a lot of stares and murmurs from the commuter crowd. The students from Class 1-B were either curious or resentful. "Why did you lie to us?" v. "Why did you keep it a secret?"

When I explained my desire to be treated as every other student and not play on my family's fame, at least Tokage and Tsuburaba seemed satisfied. Shoda was still giving me the stink eye. I guess I had spent all the good will I had earned by joining him in withdrawing from the third round of the festival. It was when we got to the school things really got fun.

"So, you're a fool and a liar, eh chijin," Bakugo barked loudly. He loved to be the center of attention. "Or was your family too ashamed of you to want you to use their name here."

The hot-head had made sure to confront me just before we got to the gate. I guess he didn't want to risk the wrath of the school officials so confronted me off-campus. He had shown no scruples about starting trouble in class before. So, it made me wonder how far he expected this to go.

"Good morning Mr. Bakugo," I said in English. "How are you feeling? I hope you are enjoying the fine weather." This was a dialog from the English text.

He rushed to get in my face, his hands were popping with minor explosions. Spittle was flying from his lips. "You don't get to say anything to me, you liar! You don't deserve to be here. You don't get to come in to MY school and disrespect every one like this. GO HOME chijin. You're not welcome here."

I really wanted to slug the guy. To knock him so far it would take three flights, a bus ride, and a tug boat to get back. I could feel myself beginning to absorb the kinetic energy of the rotating planet beneath my feet. My fist clenched. Then Kyoka-chan laid her hand on my wrist. I barely felt it, but it was enough to allow me to claw my way back to reason.

"What's this!" Iida tried to interpose himself between Bakugo and me. Neither of us moved. "What is going on here? It is time to get to class. Go on. Go to class."

I took a step back. "Have a nice day!" I said and saluted the drama queen as I walked around him and through the gates.

"Thanks," I said quietly to my host sister.

"Baka," she replied. I _was_ an idiot to let that fool get me so mad.

The reactions of the students ranged from obsequious unction to open disdain. I got asked about the battle and about my family by people I did not even know. I also got snubs and muttered insults by almost half the folk in the halls.

"I understand why you did it," Todoroki said quietly at one point. "But you must understand how it looks to people who do not have our experiences. We must all pay the price for our decisions. It is part of being a man."

He was right, but sometimes I hate growing up.

The next day Aizawa-sensei reminded us that final exams were only a week away. "You're all studying properly, right? I'm sure you already know, it won't just be a written exam. There's a practical component as well." When we were told our attendance at the summer camp activities was contingent on our exam performance it made the consequences of failure more immediate.

Several of the students completely lost it.

"I haven't studied at all!"

"We've been so busy with the sports festival and the internship."

The mid-term exams were not too difficult as we had not covered much since the start of the school year. Even so, I still had not performed up to my usual sterling standard. I'm ashamed to say I was only 12th in the class ranking. Part of it was my lackluster performance in the hero basics course. But the larger factor was my lack of true proficiency with Japanese. Having a natural aptitude for picking up languages, I was more than good enough for conversation and academic discussions. But reading, and more importantly writing, Japanese was difficult for me. I was able to use translators for much of my classwork and homework, but during exams I was expected to write without the use of any assistance. I knew I would to do well on the math and English portions of the exam, but the sections with high demand for long answers and essay in Japanese were more problematic.

"I may be of assistance with the class lectures." Momo-chan, who was ranked first in the class, offered. "I can't help with the practical, though …" I was worried that she was still smarting from her sports festival defeat.

"Can I join, too?" Kyoka-chan inquired. "I'm having some trouble with quadratic functions …" I was a little disappointed she had not come to me for help. I was also disappointed that I had not noticed her troubles.

"Sorry, me too. How are you with classical Japanese?" Sero begged, hands above his head in formal supplication.

"I'd like to join, too." Ojiro chimed in. "There's a bunch of stuff I don't get."

"I'm having issues with a lot of things too. I could use all the help I can get," I admitted, looking to the helpful angel.

"Onigai!" we chorused.

"Everyone! Yes, of course!" Momo-chan looked both surprised and pleased. She was almost dancing when she agreed enthusiastically. Then she started planning the logistics. She invited us to her place for the first study session. Her mention of having her mother open the 'Hall' and of imported teas seemed to intimidate some of the others. But her obvious enthusiasm and incredible cuteness got them over it quickly.

I decided to man up and asked if I could talk to Momo-chan at lunch. She blushingly agreed to meet me at the roof courtyard after I grabbed a 'sando' from the takeout counter. When I got to the roof she had set out a large scarf as a decorative ground cover. She had a beautiful bento box and offered me delicacies from it as we ate. "Cook always packs more than I can eat. Though I have to eat a lot because of how my power draws mass from my body."

"Thank you. Your cook is an artist."

After a few moments of silence while we ate, I realized I had to start the conversation I wanted. "When you said you could not help with the practical side of the exam, what did you mean? You were a great help to me before the festival. Was that the problem? Did you waste so much time with me, it hurt your performance in the competition and you don't want that happening in the practical exam?"

She seemed shocked by the avalanche of questions. "No! I was happy to help you before the festival. And I am happy that you all think I can be of assistance with preparing for this exam." She looked down at her omelet. "It's just that my poor festival performance shows that I am not the one others should come to for advice on the more practical aspects of heroing."

"Forgive me for being blunt but, you're wrong." Her head shot up with a look of mixed anger and hope. "From the second day of class, when you shocked the class with your keen analysis of Midoriya and Bakugo's battle, you have demonstrated your knowledge and skill at the practical side of our classes. You were surprised by Tokoyami in that first bout. He attacked so quickly that you didn't have time to think."

She nodded. "He just kept coming."

"I bet you were trying to decide between a lot of options and couldn't choose which was best in the situation."

"Yes!"

"You're so smart and so versatile. I've heard it called the weakness of your strength. You have so many options that you fell into analysis paralysis."

"Exactly. And that let him push me out before I could act. It's no good that I have a thousand options if I can't pick the right one in a fight."

"Maybe you could have a few default items that you use as your go-to choices. I've seen you use a staff frequently for close combat. That could be one. Maybe have some sort of stun gun or throwing weapons for ranged attack and a net or bolos for captures. Whatever they are, you can use them in 50-70% of combat situations, only going to the more esoteric options when you have time or the first options don't work."

"I …"

"I'm not saying those exact items are ideal, or that you limit yourself to three or even five regulars. But having a non-infinite menu of situational choices has to make quick decisions easier."

"You could be right. I'll think on it." She smiled at me and put her hand on mine. "Thank you. You've been a great help."

I blushed and sipped my tea. The bell rang soon afterwards and we went back to class.

The study sessions were frustrating, fun, and ultimately fruitful. The seven of us grew closer over shared hardship and effort. And we all did better on the written exams that we would otherwise have done. I must admit that the Yaoyorozu residence was impressive. I was not sure if it qualified as a mansion or a castle. It was a mix of ancient and modern, of eastern and western. I was impressed and I grew up in the Citadel, an island fortress in the East River. As I was travelling with my host sister, I never managed to stay late and have another heart-to-heart with our tutor.

I had a question I wanted to ask her. Maybe more than one.


	21. Episode 21

The day of the practical exam was bright and sunny. There was a gentle breeze coming from the east. We were all a bit surprised to see large number of teachers present for the event. Scuttlebutt was saying the exam would be a battle with robots similar to those in the obstacle course. But, I didn't see any robots.

When Kocho-sensei appeared out of Aizawa-sensei's neck wrapping – a disturbing image I was determined not to think about – and said, "For various reasons the exam will be different this time. From now on we want to focus on person-to-person combat and hero work, and stress teaching that is closer to actual fighting."

I had some experience with actual fighting, as did several others in the class. This did not sound fun.

"So …" continued the dog-bear-rat in a suit. "We'll have you form teams of two to fight against one teacher!"

Nope. Not fun. Aizawa-sensei had me paired with Red Riot against Cementoss. Oh joy … a Brick Bash! Even better we were to go first so we had no time to plan or to see how the rest of the class did.

"The time limit for the exam is thirty minutes," explained the principal. "Your objective is to either put these handcuffs on the teacher, or to have one of you escape from the stage!"

"Capture the teacher or escape …" Kaminari pondered, an unusual look for him.

"Is it really ok to run away?" Ashido inquired of the teachers. Kocho-senei's positive response got everyone thinking. Teamwork and choices. This was not just a test of fighting ability.

"Remember, you'll be up against someone waaaaay better than you!" Present Mic rapped.

Kyoka-chan's response of "I can't really imagine that," upset him for some reason.

I had to agree with her. I had seen Eraser Head, Ectoplasm, and All Might in action. While they were impressive, I was not certain that Todoroki, Midoriya, and others might not be more powerful. The fact that the teachers were handicapping themselves with ultra-compressed weights to slow them down made it even more likely that some of the students could match some of the teachers. I started thinking about what I knew of Cementoss.

"Armstrong, Kirishima, get ready," Aizawa-sensei ordered. "Those waiting their turn can watch the exams or think of strategies as a team. Do what you want. That's all." I watched as some of the other teams either went off to plan.

"Armstrong. Let's go." Kirishima barked. He and I had never had much to do with each other. We had never socialized. He was always at least tangentially in Bakugo's orbit. And since the end of the internships, the two had been study partners. Combine that with envy that Crimson Riot, who Kirishima had named himself after, had been my mentor, and we were not on teammate terms.

 _"_ _Team Armstrong and Kirishima, practical exam. Ready, go!"_ The last words from the loudspeaker were in English. I was distracted thinking about why they would use English for a moment while Kirishima started jogging towards the center of the stage.

"Hey, chijin, keep up." My teammate yelled.

"Any thoughts on what we should do? Fight or run?" I asked once I was beside him.

"For this exam, we'll definitely get a higher score by capturing rather than running, right?"

"I'm not certain. But, it shouldn't be any less if we can pull it off." I replied. Before he could speak further a cement wall sprouted out of the street before us, knocking us back.

"Cementoss-sensei moves slowly," posited Kirishima. That pop-goes-the-wall didn't seem very slow to me. "Let's break through from the front and aim for a high score!" Activating his hardening power, Red Riot slammed his arms together with a metallic clash.

I cringed inwardly but knew this guy wouldn't listen to any counterargument from. Working together on a bad plan was better than working separately on two plans. "All right …"

I quickly tossed a flying drone straight up. I wanted a better view of the situation. We were about a block away from our opponent, who was squatting in the middle of the street, hand resting on the pavement. There was just the one wall in the way, but I knew that could change quickly.

Kirishima rushed the wall, fist cocked. I joined him.

Just before we hit the wall our teacher lamented, "You came from the front after all, huh?" His hands glowed green and dozens of walls sprang up between him and us. Then we hit the first.

One punch pulverized the wall, but it was just the first.

"Let's go Armstrong!" Red Riot cried. As we moved on to the next, we separated enough that we were each attacking individual barriers. Red Riot was faster than me, but it would often take him more than one blow to crack the concrete. I would smash through with one punch. We went through the walls like a couple of bats out of … someplace rather unpleasant.

But it didn't matter. "This is never ending, man!" My partner protested. "No matter how many I break, they just keep coming!"

"You're right. I don't think this is working." I agreed.

Kirishima pounded on another wall, but his fist was no longer hard. "I-I'm running out of power …"

Just then the walls around us started growing taller and leaning inward. Teacher was trying to trap us.

"Hold on!" I grabbed my teammate and sprang upwards, crashing through the closing dome. I bounced between buildings, disappearing over the rooftop and out of Cementoss' line of sight. The building was glass and steel, so I hoped it would be proof against Cementoss' elemental control.

"What do we do now?" Kirishima panted.

"Keep an eye out for a surprise attack. I want to try something." I grabbed the handcuffs off my belt and palmed a couple of my new utility bots. These were the next generation I had developed with Tinker. They were larger, could roll or fly, and had limited manipulative abilities with several small tendrils. I handed them the cuffs and instructed them to secure the teacher. It was an independent program, that used their greater computing power to process.

"Now if we can keep Sensei distracted, they may be able to do something. In the meantime, I think one or both of us should head for the gate. This gives us maximum flexibility."

"Cool toys, dude."

"How much longer until you can use your power again?"

"I don't know. Maybe five minutes, maybe more."

"We have fifteen minutes left in the exam." I was watching the teacher through my drone. He was still squatting in the street.

"Hey!" Kirishima pointed to a cement eyestalk that peeked over the lip of the roof. I quick tossed a steel ball at it, shattering the spy.

"We have to move." I grabbed my partner and bounced to another rooftop, then down into alley. We stopped on a fire escape. I had had a nasty thought. "Do you know if Cementoss can sense through cement?"

"What do you mean?"

"If we walk on the cement, can he track us through our footsteps or something?"

"Man! I don't know."

"I don't think we can chance it." I pulled out another bot, this one a roller. I handed it to Kirishima. "I think you should try for the exit. Keep off any cement. And take this with you. I'll be able to use it to track you or hear you if you talk. I can't talk back but I can make it buzz – one for yes, two for no. Got it?"

"Yeah. What are you going to do?"

"Keep the teacher busy." I saluted then sprang out into the street. As soon as I touched the concrete, it surged up and surrounded me. I smashed though it and leapt towards the teacher. Every time I got near, a wall would appear blocking my way or causing me to rebound in an unexpected direction.

I paused for a second, hanging from a lamp pole, breathing hard. I quickly cycled through the feeds from the sky eye, the utility bots, and Kirishima's bot. He seemed to be making good time in what I hoped was the right direction. Sensei was still right where he had been when the fight started. And my sneak attack was slowing making its way towards him from behind.

I started to pelt him with steel balls, bouncing them in from several directions. But, he easily deflected them with pillars of pavement. I tried leaping to a heavy landing, hoping to cause a shockwave that would knock over most of his walls. Instead my feet sank into the cement like it was quicksand. I expended my stored kinetic energy, transferring it to the viscous concrete, sending it rolling away from me. I bounded towards Cementoss, crashing through his hastily erected barriers. As I was about to land on him, a concrete dome flowed over him. I smashed at the structure, but a new one grew under it.

I kept smashing at the shields as they regenerated under my fists. It was a stalemate. Except I could see that my utility bot was inside the cement sanctuary. I was pressing my opponent and he had to concentrate on repelling my attacks. While I had him busy, my bot was about to clamp the cuff on the only part of the blocky behemoth it could go around, his queue.

 _BZZzzz! "Team Armstrong and Kirishima have passed!"_ I stopped pounding and fell back onto the street. The bot clamped the cuff on the teacher, causing him to look up in surprise. Suddenly I could barely breath. My heart was racing. I had no idea I could get this tired. Guess I don't have infinite endurance either.

"Well done, Mr. Armstrong." Cementoss was examining my bots in his hand. "I did not see this coming. You will be interested to know your teammate, Kirishima-kun managed to pass through the gate a few seconds before you managed to cuff me. You would have won either way. This is a fine example of teamwork, contingency planning, and simultaneous operations. Well done indeed."

After congratulating Kirishima, I washed up and made my way into the monitor room to watch the others. I missed Tsu-chan and Tokoyami beat Ectoplasm. I would have to watch the recording. I wanted to see what the teacher could really do. I had not had much chance to see the grinning gargoyle in action at the train battle as I was otherwise occupied at the time.

I watched Iida & Ojiro try to avoid the man traps of the support teacher. I thought the construction site setting was more appropriate for the speedster than the arboreal martial artist. He seemed to be at an unusual disadvantage, though I suppose he could have swung from the earth moving equipment. Their solution, while not elegant, was effective.

Momo-chan and Todoroki were a powerful pairing. I thought they would be at less of a disadvantage against Eraser Head than most of us would be. Each was well trained in mundane combat forms and had strong tactical abilities. I hoped that my conversation with Momo-chan about avoiding overthinking might had helped her. She was going to have to think on her feet in this situation.

They were put into a suburban setting. The low roofs would give Eraser Head a vertical advantage, possibly more so than in a city setting like that in which I had fought. From the monitor room, we could follow the action relatively closely, but could not hear what the competitors were saying at all times.

It was obvious that Todoroki was directing their movements. As they came to the end of an alley they were near a street pickup so we could hear their discussion. "This exam will depend on who finds the other first," Todoroki was saying. "Once we see him, I'll draw him to me. Then, you should run to the escape gate. Stay with me until then."

Momo-chan started to say something, but her partner cut her off. "What's wrong. Why aren't you making things?"

"I …" She looked uncertain.

"You want to say something? A different idea?" I was impressed that he was more aware of conversational ques after our coffee klatch discussions.

"Well, I'm sure your plan is better." She started creating little red objects and putting them in her belt as they talked.

"It's nothing special."

"But … despite the fact that we were both admitted through recommendations, you are the one that has shown superior practical skills, those a hero needs. I have not stood out."

"We have to hurry. Aizawa-sensei is probably on his way. I'm sorry I should have asked if my plan was okay. You have an idea, right? Tell me."

"Are you done?" came Eraser Head's voice from above. Todoroki obviously tried to use his ice on the teacher, but nothing happened.

Momo-chan grabbed the red objects from her belt and tossed them into the air as the teacher dropped towards them. They were Russian dolls. "Todoroki-san, close your eyes!" she cried.

"What are these?" Eraser had twisted to aid them and swatted one of the dolls away from him. It split open revealing a grenade with its pin attached to the top. The explosive detonated with a blinding flash.

"I do have a plan," Momo-chan said as she pulled Todoroki away. "A special plan just to beat Aizawa-sensei."

They moved out of range of the mic. We couldn't hear them anymore, but we could see them trying to hide from the teacher. He was perched on a roof, trying to get his eyes working. Soon he was on the move again. He cornered the two students, but he must have blinked as Todoroki let loose his glacier wall attack, effectively cutting them off from the teacher's sight.

We could see Creati creating some sort of materiel then a catapult. Soon she and Todoroki were on the run again, under the cover of black cloaks. Eraser Head went after them, lassoing both of the covered figures. But one of them was a manikin held by Momo-chan. She turned and fired her catapult, launching the materiel into the air. Todoroki set it ablaze as the teacher moved to avoid both the unknown material and the flames. But Momo-chan had anticipated this and the material somehow moved on its own to entrap the teacher.

Soon afterwards the buzzer declared them the winners. I watched as Momo-chan gave a satisfied fist pump as her partner patted her back. In the control room, I tried to keep my cheering to acceptable levels

Watching Kocho-snesei's impression of an evil mastermind was both chilling and really funny. I thought Kaminari and Ashido might have had the vindictive little rodent when they went through a wall into a building, but it was not to be.

I was really proud of Kyoka-chan as she proved that Koda was not useless and took down the big mouth. I thought it was really clever when she used her sound attack modulated to cancel out the teacher's sound attack. I was going to suggest she might want to practice that for future use against sonic wielders.

I was in the back of the monitor room as it had gotten pretty crowded by the time Sero and Mineta's exam started. I watched as the little pervert ran from his opponent, and from the gate. I wasn't paying a lot of attention to Recovery Girl and Midoriya's conversation until she said something that resonated.

" … in order to overcome them, students need a concrete goal to focus on. It is not a path and can be easily climbed if motivated only by the general desire to become a hero. Even if they do become heroes, people whose _only_ goal is to become a hero have no future."

I almost blacked out. This was basically what my shrink had been saying, and Crimson Riot, and others. It was the question I kept asking people. _Why did they want to become a hero?_ She was saying every hero had a different motivation. A different goal to focus on. Money, fame, philanthropy, justice, revenge, these are all motivations upon which a hero can focus.

If I change the question to – _What do I want to do with my life?_ The answer is pretty clear. I have always said I want to help people.

I want to help people. There are lots of ways I could do that. Doctors help people. Firemen help people. Engineers and inventors can help people, though that is not always the case. Heroes help people.

Not all people with hero licenses and costume help people. Momo-chan had told me about her internship with a woman who was a model and commercial spokesperson. Even though she was licensed and had powers, she wasn't a hero. My father and mother helped people. They made money off of it, but they helped people. All Might and Endeavor were in a publicity war that had lasted a decade, but they helped people. Whatever their motivations or focus, heroes were heroes because of their actions.

I wanted to help people. The best way I could do that was using my powers. I wanted to be a hero.

And build robots on the side ...

The End

of Season One

Come back next time for Season Two of

The Exchange Hero


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